s^4 


R~P3£>G 

Columbia  Untoersitp 
intfieCttpofi&etogorfe 

COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS 
AND   SURGEONS 


Reference  Library 

Given  by 


The  Voice  in  Singing 


THE 


7oice  in  Singing 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF 

EMMA    SEILER 

Membeb  op  the  American  Philosophical  Soc»t\ 


A  NEW  EDITION 
REVISED  AND   ENLARGED 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.  B.   LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 
1900 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT   &    CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


tsoo 


Lippincott's    Frb(I> 
Philadelphia. 


CONTENTS 


PAQI 

Translator's  Preface 7 

Introduction 11 

I    Vocal  Music 15 

II    Physiological so 

III  Physical 85 

IV  ^Esthetic 143 

Appendix i 185 

1»  5 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/voiceinsingingOOseil 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE 


The  translator  of  this  book,  desirous,  in  com- 
mon with  other  friends  of  its  author,  that  her 
claims  as  a  lady  of  rare  scientific  attainments 
should  be  recognized  in  this  country,  where  she 
has  recently  taken  up  her  abode,  has  obtained  her 
consent  to  the  publication  of  the  following  testi- 
monials to  her  position  in  her  own  country  from 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  eminence  in  science : 

[translated] 

Mad.  Emiia  Seiler  has  dwelt  for  a  long  time  here  in 
Heidelberg,  and  given  instruction  in  singing.  She  has 
won  the  reputation  of  a  very  careful,  skilled  and  learned 
teacher,  possessing  a  fine  ear  and  cultivated  taste. 
While  engaged  on  my  book,  u  Die  Lehre  von  den 
Tonempjindungen,  cfcc.,"  I  had  the  honor  of  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  Mad.  Seiler,  and  of  being  assisted 
by  her  in  my  essay  upon  the  formation  of  the  vowel 
tones  and  the  registers  of  the  female  voice.     I  have 

r 


8  TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE 

thus  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  the  delicacy  of 
her  musical  ear  and  her  ability  to  master  the  more 
difficult  and  abstract  parts  of  the  theory  of  music. 

I  have  pleasure  in  bearing  this  testimony  to  her 
WDrth,  in  the  hope  of  securing  for  her  the  confidence 
and  the  encouragement  of  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  scientific  culture  of  music,  and  who  know  how 
desirable  it  is  that  an  instructress  in  the  art  of  singing 
should  be  possessed  of  scientific  knowledge,  a  fine  ear, 
and  a  cultivated  taste. 

(Signed)  Dr.  H.  Helmholtz, 

Prof,  of  Physiology,  Member  of  the  Acade- 
mies and  Royal  Societies  of  London, 
Edinburgh,    Amsterdam,    Stockholm, 
Berlin,  Vienna,  Munich,  Gbttingen. 
Heidelberg,  Aug.  5,  1866 

[translated] 

Mad.  E.  Seiler  has  made  for  herself  an  honorable 
name  in  Germany,  not  only  as  a  practical  teacher  of 
singing,  but  also  by  her  valuable  investigations  in  regard 
to  the  culture  of  the  musical  voice.  By  her  own  ana- 
tomical studies  she  has  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  vocal  organs,  and  by  means  of  the  laryngoscope 
has  advanced,  in  the  way  first  trodden  by  Garcia,  to  the 
establishment  of  the  conditions  of  the  formation  of  the 
voice.  We  owe  to  her  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  po- 
sition of  the  larynx,  and  of  its  parts  in  the  production  of 
the  several  registers  of  the  human  voice ;  and  she  appears 
especially  to  have  brought  to  a  final  and  satisfactory 
decision  the  much-vexed  question  respecting  the  forma- 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE  9 

tion  of  the  so-called  fistel  tones  (head  tones).  She  has 
been  associated  with  the  best  powers  possessed  by  Ger- 
many in  the  department  of  the  theory  of  music  and 
physiological  acoustics,  standing  by  the  side  of  the 
celebrated  physiologist,  Helmholtz,  while  he  was  engaged 
in  his  physiologico-acoustic  work  upon  the  generation  of 
the  vowels  and  the  nature  of  harmony. 

(Signed)  E.  du  Bois-Reymond, 

Professor  of  Physiology  in  the  Royal  University  of  Berlin. 
Berlin,  July  17,  1866 

In  a  letter,  written  in  English,  addressed  to 
the  President  and  Members  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  Professor  du  Bois-Rey- 
mond introduces  Mrs.  Seiler  (italicizing  the 
words)  "  as  a  lady  of  truly  remarkable  scientific 
attainments."  "Prompted,"  he  states,  "by  a 
spirit  of  philosophical  inquiry,  not  frequently 
met  with  in  her  sex,  she  has  made  herself  en- 
tirely acquainted  with  all  the  facts  and  theories 
concerning  the  production  of  the  human  voice. 
She  has  entered,  deeper  probably  than  any  one 
else  before  her,  into  the  study  of  the  problem  of 
the  different  registers  of  the  human  voice.  Most 
of  her  results  she  has  published  in  a  pamphlet 
under  the  title:  Altes  und  Neues  iiber  die  Aus- 

A* 


10  TRANSLATORS  PREFACE 

bildung  des  Gesangorganes  (Leipzig,  1861),  which 
has  received  the  approbation  of  both  the  physio- 
logists and  the  singing  masters  of  this  country." 

The  translator  takes  the  opportunity  to  state 
that,  as  he  makes  no  pretensions  to  any  know- 
ledge either  of  the  science  or  of  the  art  of 
music,  his  translation  has  been  carefully  revised 
by   persons    entirely   competent    to   correct    its 

musical  phraseology. 

W.  H.  F. 

Philadelphia,  December,  1867 


INTRODUCTION 


In  giving  to  the  public  these  fruits  of  years  of 
earnest  labor,  and  in  attempting  to  bring  into 
harmony  things  which  have  always  been  treated 
separately,  the  Science  and  the  Art  of  Singing,  it 
seems  necessary  that  I  should  state  the  reasons  that 
prompted  me  to  this  study. 

As  I  had  for  many  years  the  advantage  of  the 
best  tuition,  both  German  and  Italian,  in  the  Art 
of  Singing,  and  had  often  sung  with  favor  in  con- 
certs, I  was  led  to  believe  myself  qualified  to  become 
a  teacher  of  this  art.  But  hardly  had  I  undertaken 
the  office  before  I  felt  that,  while  I  was  able  to 
teach  my  pupils  to  execute  pieces  of  music  with 
tolerable  accuracy  and  with  the  appropriate  ex- 
pression, I  was  wanting  in  the  knowledge  of  any 
sure  starting-point,  any  sound  principle,  from  which 
to  proceed  in  the  special  culture  of  any  individual 
voice.  In  order  to  obtain  the  knowledge  which  thus 
appeared  to  be   requisite  in    a   teacher  of   vocal 

music,  I  examined  the  best  schools  of  singing;  and 

11 


1 2  INTB  OD  UCTION 

when  I  learned  nothing  from  them  that  I  did  not 
already  know,  I  sought  the  most  celebrated  teachers 
of  singing  to  learn  what  was  wanting.     But  what 
one  teacher  announced  to  me  as  a  rule  was  usually 
rejected  by  another.     Every  teacher  had  his  own 
peculiar  system  of  instruction.     No  one  could  give 
me    any   definite    reasons    therefor,   and  the  best 
assured  me  that  so  exact  a  method  as  I  sought  did 
not  exist,  and  that  every  teacher  must  find  his  own 
way  through  his  own  experience.     In  such  a  state 
of  darkness  and   uncertainty,  to  undertake  to  in- 
struct others  appeared  to  me  a  manifest  wrong,  for 
in  no  branch  of  instruction  can  the  ignorance  of 
the  teacher  do  greater  injury  than  in  the  teaching 
of  vocal  music.     This  I  unhappily  learned  from  my 
own  personal  experience,  when,  under  the  tuition  of 
a  most  eminent  teacher,  I  entirely  lost  my  voice, 
whereby  the   embarrassment  I  was   under,  so  far 
from  being  diminished,  was  only  increased.     After 
this   misfortune  I  studied    under  Frederick   WieJc, 
in   Dresden   (the  father  and   instructor  of   Clara 
Schumann),  in  order  to  become  a  teacher  on  the 
piano.     But  while  I  thus  devoted   myself  to  this 
branch  of  teaching  exclusively,  it  became  from  that 
time  the  aim  and  effort  of  my  life  to  obtain  such  a 
knowledge  of  the  human  voice  as  is  indispensable  to 
a  natural  and  healthy  development  of  its  beautiful 
powers 


INTR  OD  UCTION  13 

I  availed  myself  of  every  opportunity  to  hear 
Jenny  Lind,  who  was  then  dwelling  in  Dresden,  and 
to  learn  all  that  I  could  from  her.  I  likewise  hoped, 
by  a  protracted  abode  in  Italy,  the  land  of  song,  to 
attain  the  fulfilment  of  my  wishes;  but,  beyond 
certain  practical  advantages,  I  gathered  there  no 
sure  and  radical  knowledge.  In  the  French  method 
of  instruction,  now  so  popular,  I  found  the  same  su- 
perficiality and  uncertainty  that  existed  everywhere 
else.  But  the  more  deeply  I  was  impressed  with 
this  state  of  things,  and  the  more  fully  I  became 
aware  of  the  injurious  and  trying  consequences  of 
the  method  of  teaching  followed  at  the  present  day, 
the  more  earnestly  was  I  impelled  to  press  onward 
in  search  of  light  and  clearness  in  this  dim  domain. 

Convinced  that  only  by  the  way  of  scientific  inves- 
tigation the  desired  end  could  be  reached,  I  sought 
the  counsel  of  Prof.  Helmholtz,  in  Heidelberg.  This 
distinguished  man  was  then  engaged  in  a  scientific 
inquiry  into  the  natural  laws  lying  at  the  basis  of 
musical  sounds.  Prof.  Helmholtz  permitted  me  to 
take  part  in  his  investigations,  and  at  his  kind  sug- 
gestion I  attempted  by  myself,  by  means  of  the 
laryngoscope,  to  observe  the  physiological  processes 
that  go  on  in  the  larynx  during  the  production  of 
different  tones.  My  special  thanks  are  due  to  him 
that  now,  with  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
human  voice,  I  can  give  instruction  in  singing  with- 

2 


14  INTR  OD  TJCTION 

out  the  fear  of  doing  any  injury.  My  thanks  are 
due  in  a  like  manner  to  Prof,  du  Bois-Beymond,  in 
Berlin,  who,  at  a  later  period,  also  gave  me  his 
friendly  help  in  my  studies. 

In  1861  I  published  a  part  of  my  investigations  in 
Germany,  where  they  found  acknowledgment  and 
favor.  That  little  work  is  contained  in  the  follow- 
ing pages,  together  with  some  account  of  the  dis- 
coveries of  Professor  Helmholtz  relating  to  the  human 
voice,  and  of  their  practical  application  to  the  edu- 
cation of  the  voice  in  singing. 

The  practical  sense  of  the  American  people  enables 
them,  above  all  others,  to  appreciate  the  worth  of 
every  discovery  and  of  every  advance.  And  there- 
fore it  is  my  earnest  hope  that  the  publication  of 
these  investigations  in  this  country  may  help  to 
elevate  and  improve  the  Art  of  Singing. 


The  Voice  in  Singing 


i 


I 

VOCAL    MUSIC 

ITS   RISE,  DEVELOPMENT  AND   DECLINE 

T  is  a  matter  of  complaint  among  all  persons 
of  good  taste,  who  take  an  intelligent  interest 
in  art,  and  especially  in  music,  that  fine  singers 
are  becoming  more  and  more  rare,  while  formerly 
there  appears  never  to  have  been  any  lack  of 
men  and  women  eminent  in  this  art.  The 
complaint  seems  not  altogether  without  reason, 
when  we  revert  to  that  rich  summer-time  of 
song,  not  yet  lying  very  far  behind  us,  in  the 
last  half  of  the  last  century,  and  compare  it 
with  the  present.  The  retrospect  shows  us 
plainly  that  the  art  of  singing  has  descended 
from  its  former  high  estate,  and  is  now  in  a 
condition  of  decline.  When  we  consider  what 
is  told  us  in  the  historical  works  of  Forkel, 
Burney,    Kiesewetter,   Br&ndel    and    others,   and 

15 


16  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

compare  it  with  our  present  poverty  in  good 
voices  and  skilful  artists,  we  are  struck  with 
the  multitude  of  fine  voices  then  heard,  with 
their  remarkable  fulness  of  tone,  as  well  as 
with  the  considerable  number  of  singers — male 
and  female — appearing  at  the  same  time. 

We  first  recall  to  mind  the  last  great  artists 
of  that  time,  whose  names  are  familiar  to  us  be- 
cause they  appeared  in  public  after  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century: — Catalani,  who  preserved 
to  extreme  old  age  the  melody  and  enormous 
power  of  her  voice;  Malibran,  Sontag,  Vesper- 
mann,  &c. ;  the  men  singers,  Rubini,  Tamburirvi, 
Lablache,  and  others;  and,  still  farther  back, 
Mara,  whose  voice  had  a  compass,  with  equal 
fulness  of  tone,  of  three  octaves,  and  who  pos- 
sessed such  a  power  of  musical  utterance  that  she 
imitated  within  the  compass  of  her  voice  the 
most  difficult  passages  of  the  violin  and  flute 
with  perfect  facility.  Then  comes  the  artiste 
Ajugara  Bastardetta,  in  Parma,  who  executed 
with  purity  and  distinctness  the  most  difficult 


passages  from  si   A    .      to  si   ||         ,  and  rou- 


lades with  successive  trills,  with  enchanting  har- 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  17 

mony;  and  the  old  Italian  singing-masters,  who 
sang  and  taught  with  an  art  which  we  should 
scarcely  hold  possible,  were  it  not  for  the  unani- 
mous testimony  of  their  contemporaries.  There 
were  Porpora  and  his  pupil  Perugia,  who  sang  two 
full  octaves,  with  successive  trills  up  and  down 
id  one  breath,  and  executed  with  perfect  exact- 
ness all  the  tones  of  the  chromatic  scale  without 
an  accompaniment ;  and  Farinelli,  who  to  his  lat- 
est age  preserved  his  wonderfully  beautiful  voice. 
Of  him  it  is  related,  among  other  things,  that  on 
one  occasion  he  competed  with  a  trumpeter,  who 
accompanied  him  in  an  aria.  After  both  had 
several  times  dwelt  on  notes  in  which  each 
sought  to  excel  the  other  in  power  and  duration, 
they  prolonged  a  note  with  a  double  trill  in 
thirds,  which  they  continued  until  both  seemed 
to  be  exhausted.  At  last  the  trumpeter  gave 
up,  entirely  out  of  breath,  while  Farinelli, 
without  taking  breath,  prolonged  the  note  with 
renewed  volume  of  sound,  trilling  and  ending, 
finally,  with  the  most  difficult  of  roulades. 
Pistochi  and  Bernucchi  rivalled  Farinelli.  The 
latter,  although  he  had  received  from  nature  a 
refractory  voice  of  little  excellence,  nevertheless 

succeeded   in    cultivating   it   so  highly  that  he 
2* 


18  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

became  one  of  the  most  distinguished  artists 
of  his  day,  called  by  Handel  and  Graun,  "  The 
King  of  Singers." 

It  is  impossible  to  mention  by  name  all  the 
many  singers,  male  and  female,  who  won  ap- 
plause and  renown  in  the  beginning  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century.  Almost  every  Eu- 
ropean state  was  furnished  with  most  excellent 
operas,  and  troops  of  artists,  men  and  women, 
with  voices  of  the  highest  cultivation,  nocked 
thither.  Even  in  the  streets  and  inns  and  other 
places  in  Italy,  where  elsewhere  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  seek  only  music  of  the  lowest  kind, 
one  could  then  hear  the  most  artistic  vocal 
music,  such  as  was  found  in  the  churches,  con- 
cert-saloons and  theatres  of  Germany  and  France. 

It  appears  that  far  greater  demands  were  made 
upon  singers  then  than  now-a-days.  At  least, 
history  celebrates,  together  with  the  great  vocal 
flexibility  of  the  earlier  singers,  the  measured 
beauty  of  their  singing,  the  noble  tone,  the 
thoroughly  cultivated  delivery,  by  which  they 
showed  themselves  true  artists,  and  produced 
upon  their  hearers  effects  almost  miraculous. 

On  the  other  hand,  how  sad  is  the  condition 
of  vocal  music  in  our  time !     How  few  artisti- 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  19 

cally  cultivated  voices  are  there !  And  the  few 
that  there  are,  how  soon  are  they  used  up  and 
lost !  Artists  like  IAnd,  and  more  recently  Tre- 
bellij  are  exceptions  to  be  made. 

Mediocre  talent  is  now  often  sought,  and  re- 
warded far  beyond  its  desert.  One  is  often 
tempted  to  think  that  the  public  at  large  has 
wellnigh  lost  all  capacity  of  judgment,  when  he 
witnesses  the  representation  of  one  of  our  operas. 
Let  a  singer,  male  or  female,  only  drawl  the 
notes  sentimentally  one  into  another,  execute  a 
tremulo  upon  prolonged  notes,  introduce  very 
often  the  softest  piano  and  just  where  it  is  en- 
tirely out  of  place,  growl  out  the  lowest  notes  in 
the  roughest  timbre,  and  scream  out  the  high 
notes  lustily,  and  he  or  she  may  reckon  with  cer- 
tainty upon  the  greatest  applause.  In  fact,  we 
have  become  so  easily  pleased  that  even  an  im- 
pure execution  is  suffered  to  pass  without  com- 
ment. Let  the  personal  appearance  of  the  singer 
only  be  handsome  and  prepossessing,  he  need 
trouble  himself  little  about  his  art  in  order  to 
win  the  favor  of  the  public.  This  decline  of  the 
art  of  singing  is  usually  ascribed  to  the  want  of 
good  voices,  and  this  poverty  of  voices  to  our 
altered  modes  of  living.     To  me  it  appears  as 


20  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  natural  consequence  of  the  whole  manner 
and  way  in  which  the  art  of  singing  has  been 
historically  developed  since  its  earlier  high  state 
of  perfection. 

The  human  voice  is,  of  all  instruments,  the 
most  natural,  the  most  perfect,  the  most  intimate 
iq  its  relation  to  us,  as,  for  the  use  of  it,  we  have 
a  talent  or  faculty  innate,  which,  in  the  case 
of  other  instruments,  can  only  be  laboriously 
acquired,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  these 
instruments  are  first  to  be  invented  and  put 
together.  Hence  vocal  music  appears  to  have 
been  almost  the  only  music  among  the  Greeks, 
and  the  rude  instruments  then  in  use  served 
merely  for  an  accompaniment.  The  history  of 
our  so-called  Western  music,  which  dates  no  far- 
ther back  than  the  fourth  century  after  Christ, 
tells  us  hardly  anything  else  than  of  vocal  musi- 
cians and  of  their  compositions  for  concerted  and 
chorus  singing. 

Our  art,  only  slowly  developing  itself  from 
those  earliest  times,  was  cherished,  mainly  in 
Italy,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  exalting  divine 
worship.  We  have,  at  least,  no  account  of  any 
secular  art  of  music  in  those  days.  As  yet  un- 
acquainted with  harmony,  the  only  singing  was 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  21 

in  unison,  as  was  the  custom,  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod, among  the  Greeks ;  for  not  until  the  tenth 
century  of  the  Christian  era  was  it  attempted, 
and  then  by  a  Flemish  monk  (Hukbaldus),  to 
harmonize  several  and  different  notes ;  thus  was 
invented  and  founded  our  harmony,  whose  ex- 
ponent was  the  organ.* 

From  that  time  forward,  history  makes  men- 
tion of  many  persons  who  labored  worthily,  now 
more  and  now  less,  to  create  a  theory  of  music, 
seeking  to  found  a  system  of  harmony  upon  that 
rude  beginning,  and  by  degrees  to  improve  it. 
In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  music 
burst  forth  into  blossom  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  thenceforth  rose  steadily  in  excellence,  when 
also  it  began  to  branch  out  into  the  excesses  of 
counterpoint.  The  fame  of  the  Netherlands 
soon  spread  over  all  the  civilized  countries  of 
Europe.  The  artists  of  the  Netherlands  were 
invited  upon  the  most  favorable  terms  to  Italy, 
France,  Spain,  and  Germany,  and  thus  the  pro- 
gress of  music  spread  over  all  these  countries 
almost  pari  passu.     For  two  hundred  years  the 

*  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  history  of  music  are 
referred  to  the  historical  works  already  mentioned  for  s 
fuller  account  of  what  is  only  aRuded  to  above. 


22  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

Netherlands  maintained  the  reputation  of  the 
best  and  highest  culture  in  vocal  music,  and  not 
until  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  did 
there  appear  in  Italy  and  Germany  artists  who 
attained  to  a  like  renown.  Up  to  that  time  pre- 
judice denied  to  the  Italians  all  talent  for  music, 
as  it  has  ever  since  exaggerated  their  claims  in 
this  respect.  Kiesewetter  remarks,  in  his  History 
of  Music,  that,  although  the  Netherlands  in  Italy 
no  longer  had  the  monopoly,  they  neverthe- 
less always  maintained  the  supremacy  in  music. 
Climate  and  language  were,  however,  so  favor- 
able to  vocal  music  in  Italy  that  it  soon  found 
there  its  peculiar  home,  and  though  theoretical 
knowledge  of  music  was  advanced  by  the  earlier 
singers,  now  richness  and  power  of  voice  were 
also  attained.  As  it  had  previously  been  with  the 
Netherlander,  so  it  now  became  with  the  Italians. 
They  were  drawn  to  all  countries  in  which  there 
was  any  love  of  art ;  and  they  soon  won  that 
supremacy  in  music  which  they  maintained  until 
the  last  century.  Until  the  latter  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  good  musicians  were  de- 
voted almost  exclusively  to  church  music,  and 
held  it  beneath  their  dignity  to  take  part  in 
music  of  any  other  kind.     All  but  church  music 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  23 

they  left  to  the  minstrels  and  strolling  singers, 
who  traveled  over  the  country  from  place  to 
place,  and  in  different  lands  were  styled  minstrehy 
minnesdnger  and  trovatori.  They  mostly  sung 
love-songs,  which  they  often  extemporized  in 
word  and  tune,  finding  place  and  popularity  on 
all  festive  occasions.  But  under  the  impulse 
which  music  began  to  feel,  the  desire  among  the 
educated  class  to  revive  the  old  Greek  drama, 
which  just  at  that  period  had  come  to  be  well 
known,  became  more  and  more  urgent.  Imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  that  age,  the  whole  tendency 
of  which  was  to  exalt  the  ancient  classic  poets, 
a  circle  of  men  of  science  and  culture  from  the 
higher  classes  gave  themselves  to  the  task  of 
producing  a  style  of  music  such  as  the  Greeks 
must  have  had  in  the  representation  of  their 
dramas.  In  the  mansion  of  Count  Bardi,  in 
Florence,  then  the  centre  of  union  for  all  who 
had  any  claims  to  cultivation,  music  was  first 
arranged  for  a  single  voice  by  a  dilettante,  the 
father  of  the  renowned  Galileo. 

This  attempt  met  with  applause  and  imitation 
among  the  most  distinguished  singers  of  the 
time,  who  thenceforth  turned  their  attention  also 
to   secular    music.     It    thus   came   about    that, 


24  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  on 
festal  occasions  in  Italy,  and  even  earlier  in 
France^  theatrical  representations  were  given 
with  vocal  music.  This  music  was,  however, 
always  composed  in  the  form  of  the  chorus,  and 
the  leading  voice  alone  was  represented  by  a 
singer;  the  other  voices  were  represented  by 
instruments. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  solo  singing,  which, 
growing  ever  more  in  public  favor,  soon  came  to 
be  introduced  into  the  most  solemn  church 
music;  dramatic  representations,  religious  and 
secular,  grew  very  popular,  and  were  the  fore- 
runners of  the  opera  and  oratorio,  the  richest 
inventions  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Up  to  this  time,  a  singer  of  sound  musical 
culture  sufficed  for  chorus  singing,  but  by  the  in- 
troduction of  solo  singing  a  more  complete  educa- 
tion of  the  organ  of  singing  became  a  necessity. 
Indeed,  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  there  existed  in  Rome  and  Milan 
schools  of  music  and  professorships  for  the 
education  of  singers ;  but  with  the  introduc- 
tion and  diffusion  of  solo  singing  similar  con- 
servatories were  established  in  nearly  all  the 
more  considerable   cities    of  Italy,  and   all   the 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  25 

energies  of  the  musician  were  devoted  to  the 
highest  possible  culture  of  the  voice. 

But,  with  solo  singing,  greater  attention  was 
paid  to  instruments,  which  were  already  in  those 
days  constructed  with  the  greatest  care  and  skill. 
With  the  higher  cultivation  of  single  voices, 
chorus  singing  also  became  richer  in  harmony 
and  embellishment,  but  as,  in  vocal  music,  words 
accompany  the  music,  the  expression  of  the  music 
becomes  more  definite  and  intelligible  for  the 
hearer,  and  thus  with  the  higher  cultivation  of 
vocal  music,  and  by  means  of  it,  even  our  whole 
modern  system  of  harmony  has  been  developed. 

Women  were,  by  ecclesiastical  law,  excluded 
from  participation  in  church  music,  and  as  the 
voices  of  boys  could  be  used  only  for  a  few 
years,  they  did  not  suffice  to  meet  the  ever- 
increasing  demands  of  church  music.  At  first 
it  was  attempted  to  supply  the  place  of  the  so- 
pranists  and  contraltists  with  so-called  falsettists. 
As,  however,  these  substitutes  proved  insufficient, 
the  soprano  and  contralto  of  boys  were  sought 
to  be  preserved  in  men.  And  so,  in  1625, 
appeared  the  first  male  sopranist  in  the  Papal 
chapel  in  Rome.  Such  sopranists  and  contralt- 
ists suon  appeared  in  great  numbers,  and  as  their 


26  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

organs  of  singing  continued  soft  and  tender  as 
those  of  women,  and  their  compass  was  the 
same,  to  them  the  education  of  female  voices 
was  given  over  exclusively.  Thenceforth  women 
became  the  richest  ornament  of  the  opera,  then 
blooming  into  beauty.  But  only  when  the  eccle- 
siastical law  forbidding  women  to  take  part  in 
church  music  was  annulled,  did  women  begin, 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  to  take  the 
place  of  those  male  sopranists  and  contraltists. 

It  thus  became  unnecessary  to  secure  longer 
duration  to  the  voices  of  boys,  especially  as  these 
were  never  able  to  attain  to  the  peculiar  grace 
of  the  female  voice,  and  so  this  class  of  singers 
gradually  died  out.  But  still  in  the  first  half 
of  the  present  century  there  were  many  of  them 
living  and  sought  for  as  teachers  of  singing. 
To  the  disappearance  of  this  kind  of  singers, 
Rossini  thinks  the  decline  of  vocal  art  is  to  be 
mainly  ascribed. 

The  art  of  singing  rose  in  the  course  of  the 
seventeenth  century  to  an  extraordinary  height 
of  cultivation,  and  was  diffused  more  and  more 
by  means  of  the  opera,  then  blooming,  as  we  have 
said,  into  beauty.  But  in  that  brilliant  spring- 
time  of  vocal   art,  it  was   not   mere   externals, 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  27 

such  as  beauty  of  tone,  flexibility,  etc.,  that  were 
striven  for,  but,  above  all,  the  correct  expres- 
sion of  the  feeling  intended  in  the  composition 
This  rendered  necessary  to  the  singer  the  most 
thorough  aesthetic  culture,  going  hand  in  hand 
with  the  culture  of  the  vocal  organ.  For  oniy 
thus  could  he  succeed  in  acting  upon  the  souls 
of  his  hearers,  in  moving  them  and  carrying 
them  along  with  him  in  the  emotions  which 
the  music  awakened  in  his  own  mind.  The 
dramatic  singer  was  now  strongly  tempted  to 
neglect  the  externals  of  his  art  for  the  aesthetic, 
purely  inward  conception  of  the  music.  Cer- 
tain, at  least,  it  is  that  to  the  neglect  of  the 
training  of  the  voice  (Tonbildung),  and  to  the 
style  of  writing  of  our  modern  composers — a 
style  unsuited  to  the  art  of  singing,  and  look- 
ing only  to  its  spiritual  element — the  decline  of 
this  art  is  in  part  to  be  traced.  Mannstein  says 
that,  with  the  disappearance  of  those  great  mas- 
ters, power  and  beauty  of  tone  have  fallen  more 
and  more  into  contempt,  and  at  the  present  day 
it  is  scarcely  known  what  is  meant  by  them. 
True  it  is,  that  a  beautiful  tone  of  voice  (Ge- 
sangston),  which  must  be  considered  the  foun- 
dation and   first   requisition  of  fine  singing,  is 


28  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

more  and  more  rare  among  our  singers,  male 
and  female,  and  yet  it  is  just  as  important  in 
music  as  perfect  form  in  the  creations  of  the 
sculptor. 

But  the  complete  technical  education  of  the 
earlier  singers  misled  many  of  them  into  various 
unnatural  artifices,  in  order  to  obtain  notice 
and  distinction.  The  applause  of  the  public 
caused  such  trickeries  to  become  the  fashion 
among  artists.  The  multitude,  accustomed  to 
such  effects,  began  to  mistake  them  for  art.  By 
the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  male  sopranists, 
instruction  in  singing  fell  into  the  hands  of  tenor 
singers,  who  usually  cultivated  the  female  voice  in 
accordance  with  their  own  voices,  which  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  injurious  in  the  uncertainty  ex- 
isting as  to  the  limits  in  compass  and  the  difference 
between  the  male  and  female  organs  of  voice. 

Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  people  are  now 
apt  to  imagine  that  they  know  all  that  is  to  be 
known ;  and  as  teaching  in  singing  is  generally 
best  paid,  the  office  has  been  undertaken,  without 
the  slightest  apparent  self-distrust,  by  many  per- 
sons who  have  not  the  slightest  idea  what  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  organs  of  singing,  what  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  all  the  departments  of 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  29 

music  and  what  aesthetic  and  general  culture,, 
the  teacher  of  singing  requires.  Very  few  per- 
sons indeed  clearly  understand  what  is  meant  by 
the  education  of  a  voice,  and  what  high  quali- 
fications both  teacher  and  pupil  always  require. 
The  idea,  for  instance,  is  very  prevalent  that 
every  musician,  whatever  may  be  the  branch  of 
music  to  which  he  is  devoted,  and  especially 
every  singer,  is  qualified  to  give  instruction  in 
singing.  And  therefore  a  dilettanteism  without 
precedent  has  taken  the  place  of  all  real  artistic 
endeavors.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  such  is 
the  wide  diffusion  and  popularity  of  music  be- 
yond all  the  other  arts,  that  the  want  of  singers 
artistically  educated,  and  consequently  also  of  a 
recognized  sound  method  of  instruction,  becomes 
more  and  more  urgent;  and  although  we  have 
in  these  times  distinguished  singers,  male  and 
female,  as  well  as  skilful  teachers,  yet  the 
number  is  very  small  and  by  no  means  equal 
to  the  demand. 

But  now,  as  every  evil,  as  soon  as  it  is  felt  to 
be  such,  calls  forth  the  means  of  its  removal, 
already  in  various  ways  attempts  are  making 
in  the  department  of  the  Art  of  Singing  to  restore 
it  as   perfectly  a~   possible   to  its   former   high 

3* 


30  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING. 

position,  and  if  possible  to  elevate  it  to  a 
yet  higher  state.  It  was  natural  that  the 
attempt  should,  first  of  all,  be  made  to  revive 
the  old  Italian  method  of  instruction,  and  that, 
by  strict  adherence  in  everything  to  what  has 
come  down  to  us  by  tradition,  we  should  hope 
for  deliverance  and  salvation;  for  to  the  Italians 
mainly  vocal  music  was  indebted  for  its  chief 
glory.  Without  considering  in  what  a  sadly 
superficial  way  music — and  vocal  music  espe- 
cially— is  now  treated  in  Italy,  many  have  given 
in  to  the  erroneous  idea  that  any  Italian  who 
can  sing  anything  must  know  how  to  educate 
a  voice.  Thus  many  incompetent  Italians  have 
become  popular  teachers  in  other  countries. 

The  old  Italian  method  of  instruction,  to 
which  vocal  music  owed  its  high  condition,  was 
purely  empirical,  i.  e.  the  old  singing  masters 
taught  only  according  to  a  sound  and  just  feel- 
ing for  the  beautiful,  guided  by  that  faculty  of 
acute  observation,  which  enabled  them  to  dis- 
tinguish what  belongs  to  nature.  Their  pupils 
learned  by  imitation,  as  children  learn  then 
mother  tongue,  without  troubling  themselves 
about  rules.  But  after  the  true  and  natural 
way  has  once  been  forsaken,  and  for  so  long  a 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  31 

period  only  the  false  and  the  unnatural  has 
been  heard  and  taught,  it  seems  almost  impos- 
sible by  empiricism  alone  to  restore  the  old 
and  proper  method  of  teaching.  "With  our 
higher  degree  of  culture,  men  and  things  have 
greatly  changed.  Our  feeling  is  no  longer  suf- 
ficiently simple  and  natural  to  distinguish  the 
true  without  the  help  of  scientific  principles. 

But  science  has  already  done  much  to  assist 
the  formation  of  musical  forms  of  art.  Mathe- 
matics and  physics  have  established  the  princi- 
pal laws  of  sound  and  the  processes  of  sound, 
in  accordance  with  which  our  musical  instru- 
ments are  now  constructed.  Philosophical  in- 
quirers have  succeeded  also  in  discovering  the 
eternal  and  impregnable  laws  of  Nature  upon 
which  the  mutual  influences  of  melody,  harmony 
and  rhythm  depend,  and  in  thus  giving  to  com- 
position fixed  forms  and  laws  which  no  one  ven- 
tures to  question.  And  more  recently  Professor 
Helmholtz,  in  his  great  work,  "Die  Lehre  von 
den  Tonempjindungen,"  has  given  to  music  of 
all  kinds  a  scientific  ground  and  basis.  But  for 
the  culture  of  the  human  voice  in  singing 
science  has  as  yet  furnished  only  a  few  lights. 
The  well-known  experiments  of  Johannes  Mill- 


32  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

ler  upon  the  larynx  gave  us  all  that  was  known, 
until  very  recently,  respecting  the  functions  of 
the  organ  of  singing.  Many  singing  masters 
have  sought  to  found  their  methods  of  instruc- 
tion upon  these  observations  on  the  larynx,  at 
the  same  time  putting  forth  the  boldest  conjec- 
tures in  regard  to  the  functions  of  the  organ 
of  singing  in  the  living  subject.  But  they 
have  thus  ruined  more  fine  voices  than  those 
teachers  who,  without  reference  to  the  formation 
of  the  voice,  only  correct  the  musical  faults  of 
their  pupils,  and  for  the  rest  let  them  sing  as 
they  please. 

This  superficial  treatment  of  science,  and  the 
unfortunate  results  of  its  application,  have  in- 
jured the  art  of  singing  more  than  benefited  it, 
and  created  a  prejudice  against  all  scientific 
investigations  in  this  direction  among  the  most 
distinguished  artists  and  teachers,  as  well  as 
among  those  who  take  an  intelligent  interest 
in  this  department  of  music.  It  is  a  pretty 
common  opinion  that  science  can  do  little  for 
the  improvement  of  music,  and  nothing  for  the 
culture  and  preservation  of  the  voice  in  sing- 
ing. And  the  habit  of  regarding  science  and 
art  as  opposed  to  each  other  renders  it  extremely 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  33 

difficult  to  secure  a  hearing  for  the  results  of 
thorough  scientific  inquiry  in  this  direction. 

Science  itself  admits  that  it  can  neither  cre- 
ate artistic  talent,  nor  supply  the  place  of  it, 
but  only  furnish  it  with  aids.  Besides,  with 
the  whole  inner  nature  of  music,  no  forms  of 
thought  {reflection)  have  anything  to  do.  It  has 
"  a  reason  above  reason."  This  art  transmits  to 
us  in  sound  the  expression  of  emotions  as  they 
rise  in  the  human  soul  and  connect  themselves 
one  with  another.  It  is  the  revelation  of  our 
inmost,  life  in  its  tenderest  and  finest  processes, 
and  is  therefore  the  most  ideal  of  the  arts.  It 
appeals  directly  to  our  consciousness.  As  a 
sense  of  the  divine  dwells  in  every  nation,  in 
every  human  being,  and  is  impelled  to  form 
for  itself  a  religious  cultus,  so  we  find  among 
all  nations  the  need  of  music  dwelling  as  deeply 
in  human  nature.  The  most  uncivilized  tribes 
celebrate  their  festivals  with  songs  as  the  ex- 
pression of  their  devotion  or  joy,  and  the  culti- 
vated nations  of  ancient  times,  like  the  Greeks, 
cherished  music  as  the  ethereal  vehicle  of  theii 
poetry,  and  regarded  it  as  the  chief  aid  in  the 
culture  of  the  soul. 

But  together  with  its  purely  internal  character, 

B* 


34  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

music  has  yet  another  and  formal  side,  for  if 
our  ail  consisted  only  in  the  aesthetic  feeling, 
and  in  representing  this  feeling,  every  person 
of  culture,  possessing  the  right  feeling,  would 
be  able  to  sing,  just  as  he  understands  how  to 
read  intelligibly. 

Everything  spiritual,  everything  ideal,  as  soon 
is  it  is  to  be  made  present  to  the  perceptions 
of  others,  requires  a  form  which,  in  its  mate- 
rial as  well  as  in  its  structure,  may  be  more 
or  less  perfect,  but  it  can  never  otherwise  than 
submit  to  those  eternal  laws  to  which  all  that 
lives,  all  that  comes  within  the  sphere  of  our 
perceptions,  is  subject.  To  discover  and  estab- 
lish the  natural  laws  which  lie  at  the  basis  of 
all  our  forms  of  art  is  the  office  of  science ;  to 
fashion  and  control  these  forms  and  animate 
them  with  a  soul  is  the  task  of  art.  In  sing- 
ing, the  art  consists  in  tones  beautiful  and 
sonorous,  and  fitted  for  the  expression  of  every 
variation  of  feeling.  To  set  forth  the  natural 
laws  by  which  these  tones  are  produced  is  the 
business  of  physiology  and  physics. 

Thus  is  there  not  only  an  cesthetical  side  to 
the  art  of  singing,  but  a  physiological  and  a 
physical  side  also,  without  an  exact  knowledge, 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  35 

appreciation,  observance,  and  study  of  which, 
what  is  hurtful  cannot  be  discerned  and  avoided; 
and  no  true  culture  of  art,  and  consequently  no 
progress  in  singing,  is  possible. 

In  the  physiological  view  of  vocal  art,  we  have 
to  do  with  the  quality  and  strength  of  the  organ 
of  singing  in  the  act  of  uttering  sound,  and 
under  the  variations  of  sound  that  take  place 
in  certain  tones  (the  register  being  transcended). 

By  the  physical  side  is  to  be  understood  the 
correct  use  and  skilful  management  of  the  air 
flowing  from  the  lungs  through  the  windpipe,  and 
brought  into  vibration  by  the  vocal  chords  in  the 
larynx. 

But  the  aesthetics  of  vocal  art,  and  the  spir- 
itual inspiration  of  the  form  (of  the  sound), 
comprise  the  whole  domain  of  music  and  poetic 
beauty. 


II 

PHYSIOLOGICAL  VIEW 

FORMATION   OF   SOUND   BY   THE   ORGAN   OF   THE 
HUMAN  VOICE 

THE  great  physiologist,  Johannes  Muller, 
fastened  a  larynx,  which  he  had  cut  out 
with  the  whole  trachea  belonging  to  it,  to  a 
board,  and,  stretching  the  vocal  chords  by  a  weight 
that  could  be  increased  or  diminished  at  pleasure, 
caused  vibrations  in  it  by  blowing  through  the 
trachea  with  a  pair  of  bellows,  or  through  a  tube 
with  his  own  breath.  In  this  way  he  succeeded 
in  producing  almost  all  the  tones  of  the  human 
voice,  and  even  some  which  are  beyond  the  com- 
pass of  this  organ. 

He  distinguished  two  different  kinds  of  tones, 
to  which  he  gave  the  names  of  the  chest  register 
and  the  falsetto  register.  The  chest  tones  were 
produced  when  the  vocal  ligaments,  slackly 
stretched,  were  made  to  vibrate  easily  in  their 
whole  breadth;   the  falsetto   tones  came  merely 

36 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  37 

through  the  vibration  of  the  fine  inner  edges 
of  the  vocal  chords  when  they  were  more  tightly 
stretched.  At  a  moderate  stretching  of  the 
vocal  chords,  it  depended  upon  the  manner 
of  blowing  whether  a  sound  corresponding  to 
the  chest  voice  or  to  the  falsetto  were  produced, 
or  whether  it  were  higher  or  lower  for  several 
tones,  often  for  a  whole  octave.  A  series  of 
tones  of  more  than  two  octaves  could  thus 
be  produced  in  the  same  larynx,  with,  how- 
ever, gaps  and  places  at  which  the  vocal  chords, 
instead  of  being  stretched  gradually,  have  to  be 
stretched  at  once  very  strongly,  in  order  thai  the 
succeeding  higher  half  tone  may  be  reached.  Such 
a   place   Miiller   indicates   from   c   to   c#,  or  d 


to  dj  l4\)  r   r~-i     i    ,  with  the  remark  that  it 


diners  in  different  larynxes,  being  in  some  higher 
and  in  some  lower.  But  in  order  to  render 
practicable  the  proper  stretching  of  the  ex- 
sected  larynx,  muscles  and  membranes  have 
to  be  cut,  which  sufficiently  proves  that  the 
functions  of  the  organ  of  singing  in  the  liv- 
ing must  be  differently  carried  on. 

Dr.  Merhely  in  Leipzig,  has  continued  these 
experiments,  and   by  means  of  a  peculiar  con- 


38  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

trivance  has  succeeded  in  producing  all  the 
tones  in  the  exsected  larynx,  without  mutilat- 
ing it.  But  these  investigations,  interesting 
as  they  are,  throw  no  certain  light  upon  the 
formation  of  sound  by  the  vocal  organ  in  the 
living. 

The  celebrated  singing  master,  Manuel  Garcia, 
now  living  in  London,  was  the  first  to  adopt 
the  right  mode  of  scientific  inquiry  in  this 
department,  with  favorable  results.  He  under- 
took to  apply  the  laryngoscope  (previously 
invented  by  the  Englishman,  IAston)  to  the 
larynx  in  the  act  of  singing.  The  interest- 
ing results  of  these  observations  were  pub- 
lished by  him  in  the  Philosophical  Mag.  and 
Journal  of  Science,  vol.  x.  p.  218.  While 
men  of  science  immediately  repeated  Garcia's 
experiments  and  applied  them  with  the  great- 
est advantage  to  pathological  purposes,  they 
were  received  with  distrust,  scarcely  noticed, 
and  in  many  instances  entirely  rejected,  by 
teachers  of  vocal  music.  The  few  who  at- 
tempted to  follow  the  path  thus  opened  soon 
gave  it  up,  because  they  lacked  either  patience 
or  the  anatomical  knowledge  necessary  to  such 
investigations. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  39 

The  laryngoscope  is  well  known  among  medi- 
cal men.  It  is  a  small  plane  mirror  of  glass  or 
metal,  having  a  long  handle.  Before  it  is  intro- 
duced into  the  throat,  it  is  first  warmed,  to  pre- 
vent its  becoming  dimmed.  The  reflecting  sur- 
face of  this  instrument  is  directed  downwards 
and  forwards,  so  that  it  receives  the  reflection 
caught  from  a  concave  mirror,  and  presents  to 
the  eye  of  the  observer  a  picture  of  the  illu- 
minated larynx.  In  using  it  upon  oneself,  there 
is  need  of  a  second  mirror,  which  must  be  so 
held  that  the  image  may  be  seen  in  the  laryn- 
goscope. 

The  use  of  the  laryngoscope  requires  in  the 
observer  a  certain  adroitness  and  long-continued 
practice — almost  more  in  the  observer  than  in 
the  subject  of  observation.  In  self-observation 
one  must  first  learn  to  overcome  the  irritation 
always  caused  at  the  first  by  the  contact  of  the 
mirror  with  the  back  of  the  throat.  Once 
accustomed  to  the  contact,  one  soon  succeeds  in 
obtaining  a  sight  of  the  larynx,  sufficient  for  the 
most  part  for  pathological  purposes.  But  it 
requires  long  practice  before  one  can  control 
those  organs,  usually  not  immediately  submissive 
to  the  will,  and  raise  the  epiglottis,  so  as  to  be 


40  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

able  to  see  into  the  whole  larynx.  But  this 
is  absolutely  indispensable,  in  the  observation 
of  the  formation  of  sound,  to  the  attainment  of 
any  substantial  results.  Garcia  says  himself 
that  one-third  of  the  glottis  was  always  hidden 
from  him  by  the  epiglottis,  and  to  this  circum- 
stance is  the  unsatisfactory  character  of  his 
observations  to  be  ascribed.  But  even  when, 
after  long  practice,  one  is  able  at  last  to  bring 
the  whole  glottis  into  view,  this  is  not  by  any 
means  enough.  Not  until  observation  has  been 
so  long  continued  that  all  the  movements  of  the 
vocal  organ  are  normal,  notwithstanding  the 
unnatural  drawing  back  of  the  epiglottis,  and 
not  until  the  process  that  goes  on  is  found  again 
and  again  to  be  always  the  same,  can  it  be 
recognized  as  fact. 

As  Garcia  is  the  most  eminent  of  singing 
masters  now  living,  and  as  he  has  sought, 
solely  in  the  interest  of  vocal  music,  to  ascer- 
tain the  mechanism  by  which  sound  is  formed, 
and  as  his  observations  have  been  confirmed 
by  men  of  science,  I  give  them  here  in  his 
own  words. 

In   order  that  what   follows   may   be   better 


TEE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  41 

understood  by  those  unacquainted  with  anat- 
omy, a  brief  anatomical  description  of  the  vocal 
organ  will  be  found  in  an  Appendix  to  the 
present  work. 


OBSERVATIONS  WITH  THE  LARYNGOSCOPE 

BY  MANUEL  GARCIA 

"At  the  moment  when  the  person  draws  a 
deep  breath,  the  epiglottis  being  raised,  we  are 
able  to  see  the  following  series  of  movements : 
the  arytenoid  cartilages  become  separated  by  a 
very  free  lateral  movement;  the  superior  liga- 
ments are  placed  against  the  ventricles;  the 
inferior  ligaments  are  also  drawn  back,  though 
in  a  less  degree,  into  the  same  cavities ;  and  the 
glottis,  large  and  wide  open,  is  exhibited,  so  as 
to  show  in  part  the  rings  of  the  trachea.  But, 
unfortunately,  however  dexterous  we  may  be  in 
disposing  these  organs,  and  even  when  we  are 
most  successful,  at  least  the  third  part  of  the 
anterior  of  the  glottis  remains  concealed  by  the 
epiglottis. 

"As  soon  as  we  prepare  to  produce  a  sound, 

4» 


42  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  arytenoid  cartilages  approach  each  other 
and  press  together  by  their  interior  surfaces, 
and  by  their  anterior  apophyses  without  leav- 
ing any  space,  or  inter-cartilaginous  glottis; 
sometimes,  even,  they  come  in  contact  so  closely 
as  to  cross  each  other  by  the  tubercles  of  San- 
torini.  To  this  movement  of  the  anterior  apo- 
physes that  of  the  ligaments  of  the  glottis 
corresponds,  which  detach  themselves  from  the 
ventricles,  come  in  contact  with  different  de- 
grees of  energy,  and  show  themselves  at  the 
bottom  of  the  larynx,  under  the  form  of  an 
ellipse  of  a  yellowish  color.  The  superior  liga- 
ments, together  with  the  aryteno-epiglottidean 
folds,  assist  to  form  the  tube  which  surmounts 
the  glottis;  and  being  the  lower  and  free  ex- 
tremity of  that  tube,  enframe  the  ellipse,  the 
surface  of  which  they  enlarge  or  diminish  ac- 
cording as  they  enter  more  or  less  into  the 
ventricles.  These  last  scarcely  retain  a  trace 
of  their  opening.  By  anticipation,  we  might 
say  of  these  cavities  that,  as  will  afterwards 
appear  clearly  enough  in  these  pages,  they  onlv 
afford  to  the  two  pair  of  ligaments  a  space  in 
which  they  may  easily  range  themselves.  When 
the    aryteno-epiglottidean    folds    contract,    they 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  43 

lower  the  epiglottis  and  make  the  superior  ori- 
fice of  the  larynx  considerably  narrower. 

"The  meeting  of  the  lips  of  the  glottis,  na- 
turally proceeding  from  the  front  towards  the 
back,  if  this  movement  is  well  managed,  will 
allow,  between  the  apophyses,  of  the  formation 
of  a  triangular  space  or  inter-cartilaginous  glottis, 
but  one  which,  however,  is  closed  as  soon  as 
the  sounds  are  produced. 

"After  some  essays  we  perceive  that  this  in- 
ternal disposition  of  the  larynx  is  only  visible 
when  the  epiglottis  remains  raised.  But  neither 
all  the  registers  of  the  voice,  nor  all  the  de- 
grees of  intensity,  are  equally  fitted  for  its  tak- 
ing this  position.  We  soon  discover  that  the 
brilliant  and  powerful  sounds  of  the  chest 
register  contract  the  cavity  of  the  larynx,  and 
close  still  more  its  orifice ;  and,  on  the  contrary, 
that  veiled  notes,  and  notes  of  moderate  power, 
open  both,  so  as  to  render  any  observation  easy. 
The  falsetto  register  especially  possesses  this  pre- 
rogative, as  well  as  the  first  notes  of  the  head 
voice.  So  as  to  render  these  facts  more  precise, 
we  will  study  in  the  voice  of  the  tenor  the  ascend- 
ing progression  of  the  chest  register,  and  in  the 
soprano  that  of  the  falsetto  and  head  registers. 


44  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

EMISSION  OF  THE   CHEST  VOICE 

"  If  we  emit  veiled  and  feeble  sounds,  the  lar- 
ynx opens  at  the  notes  |  <&:  J  J  ^~,  and  we  see 

do  re  mi 

the  glottis  agitated  by  large  and  loose  vibra- 
tions throughout  its  entire  extent.  Its  lips 
comprehend  in  their  length  the  anterior  apo- 
physes of  the  arytenoid  cartilages  and  the  vo- 
cal chords;  but,  I  repeat  it,  there  remains  no 
triangular  space. 

"As  the  sounds  ascend,  the  apophyses,  which 
are  slightly  rounded  on  their  internal  side,  by 
a  gradual  apposition  commencing  at  the  back 
encroach  on   the   length   of  the   glottis,  and  as 


soon    as  we    reach    the    sounds     A  ,3  they 


si    do 

finish  by  touching  each  other  throughout  their 
whole  extent ;  but  their  summits  are  only  solidly 

fixed  one  against  the  other  at  the  notes  ~/u    ,    1 1 . 

do  re 

In  some  organs  these  summits  are  a  little  vacil- 
lating when  they  form  the  posterior  end  of  the 
glottis,  and  two  or  three  half-tones  which  are 
formed  show  a  certain  want  of  purity  and 
strength,  which  is  very  well  known  to  singers. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  45 


From    gh     |     i-  the  vibrations,  having  become 

do  re 

rounder  and  purer,  are  accomplished  by  the  vocal 
ligaments  alone,  up  to  the  end  of  the  register. 

"  The  glottis  at  this  moment  presents  the  as- 
pect of  a  line  slightly  swelled  towards  its  mid- 
dle, the  length  of  which  diminishes  still  more 
as  the  voice  ascends.  We  also  see  that  the 
cavity  of  the  larynx  has  become  very  small, 
and  that  the  superior  ligaments  have  contracted 
the  extent  of  the  ellipse  to  less  than  one-half. 

"Thus  the  organs  act  with  a  double  differ- 
ence: 1.  The  cavity  of  the  larynx  contracts 
itself  more  when  the  voice  is  intense  than  when 
it  is  feeble.  2.  The  superior  ligaments  are  con- 
tracted, so  as  to  reduce  the  small  diameter  of 
the  ellipse  to  a  width  of  two  or  three  lines.  But 
however  powerful  these  contractions  may  be, 
neither  the  cartilages  of  Wrisberg,  nor  the 
superior  ligaments  themselves,  ever  close  suffi- 
ciently to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  air,  or 
even  to  render  it  difficult.  This  fact,  which  is 
verified  also  with  regard  to  the  falsetto  and 
head  registers,  suffices  to  prove  that  the  supe- 
rior ligaments  do  not  fill  a  generative  part  in 
the  formation  of  the  voice.     We  may  draw  the 


46  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

same  conclusion  by  considering  the  position  oc- 
cupied by  the  somewhat  feeble  muscles  which 
correspond  to  these  ligaments;  they  cover  ex- 
ternally the  extremity  of  the  diverging  fibres 
of  the  thyro-arytenoid  muscles,  and  take  part 
especially  in  the  contractions  of  the  cavity  of 
the  larynx  during  the  formation  of  the  high 
notes  of  the  chest  and  head  registers. 

PRODUCTION   OF   THE   FALSETTO 

"  The  low  notes  of  the  falsetto  show  the  glottis 
infinitely  better  than  the  unisons  of  the  chest 
voice,  and  produce  vibrations  more  extended 
and  more  distinct.  Its  vibrating  sides,  formed 
by  the  anterior  apophyses  of  the  arytenoid  car- 
tilages and  by  the  ligaments,  become  gradually 
shorter    as    the    voice    ascends ;    at    the    notes 

,   the   apophyses    take    part   only   at 


m 


la     si 

their  summits;  and  in  these  notes  there  results 
a  weakness  similar  to  that  which  we  have  re- 
marked in  the  chest  notes  an  octave  below.     At 


the  notes    Xit^    ^E  „  the  ligaments  alone  con- 

*J     do    re 

tinue  to  act ;  then  begins  the  series  of  notes  called 
the  head  voice.     The  moment  in  which  the  action 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  47 

of  the  apophyses  ceases  exhibits  in  the  female 
voice  a  very  sensible  difference  to  the  ear  and 
in  the  organ  itself.  Lastly,  we  verify  that  up 
to  the  highest  sounds  of  the  register  the  glottis 
continues  to  diminish  in  length  and  in  width. 

"If  we  compare  the  two  registers  in  these 
movements,  we  shall  find  some  analogies  in 
them;  the  sides  of  the  glottis  formed  at  first 
by  the  apophyses  and  the  ligaments  become 
shorter  by  degrees,  and  end  by  consisting  only 
of  the  ligaments.  The  chest  register  is  divided 
into  two  parts,  corresponding  to  these  two  states 
of  the  glottis.  The  register  of  falsetto-head 
presents  a  complete  similarity,  and  in  a  still 
more  striking  manner. 

"  On  other  points,  on  the  contrary,  these  same 
registers  are  very  unlike.  The  length  of  the 
glottis  necessary  to  form  a  falsetto  note  always 
exceeds  that  which  produces  the  unison  of  the 
chsst.  The  movements  which  agitate  the  sides 
of  the  glottis  are  also  augmented,  and  keep  the 
vibrating  orifice  continually  half  opened,  which 
naturally  produces  a  great  waste  of  air.  A  last 
trait  of  difference  is  in  the  increased  extent  of 
that  elliptic  surface. 

"All  these  circumstances  show  in  the  median- 


48  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

ism  of  the  falsetto  a  state  of  relaxation  which 
we  do  not  find  in  the  same  degree  in  the  chest 
register. 

MANNER   IN   WHICH  THE   SOUNDS   AEE   FORMED 

"As  we  have  just  seen — and  what  we  have  seen 
proves  it — the  inferior  ligaments  at  the  bottom  of 
the  larynx  form  exclusively  the  voice,  whatever 
may  be  its  register  or  its  intensity;  for  they 
alone  vibrate  at  the  bottom  of  the  larynx.  *  *  * 
By  the  compressions  and  expansions  of  the 
air,  or  the  successive  and  regular  explosions 
which  it  produces  in  passing  through  the  glot- 
tis, sound  is  produced."  (The  London,  Edinburgh 
and  Dublin  Phil.  Mag.  and  Journal  of  Science, 
vol.  x.  4th  Series,  p.  218-221,  1855.) 

Garcia  proceeds,  in  the  same  paper,  to  give 
an  elaborate  account  of  his  theory  of  the  com- 
pression, expansion  and  explosion  of  the  air 
in  expiration,  together  with  his  conjectures  as 
to  the  action  of  the  muscles  of  the  larynx  in 
relation  to  the  different  registers.  I  omit  both 
here,  for,  since  this  publication  of  Garcia's,  the 
movements  of  the  breath  generating  sound  in 
expiration    have    been    thoroughly   investigated 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  49 

and  determined  by  Prof.  Helmholtz;  and  in 
the  physical  section  of  the  present  work  all  may 
be  found  that  is  of  value  in  the  culture  of  the 
singing  voice.  Whatever  can  be  definitely  com- 
municated in  regard  to  the  working  of  the 
muscles  of  the  larynx  may  likewise  be  found 
in  any  anatomical  work.  An  acquaintance, 
however,  with  the  action  of  these  muscles  is 
not  directly  necessary  to  our  purpose,  and  is 
of  interest  only  to  the  physiologist. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  Garcia's  observa- 
tions do  not,  by  any  means,  lead  to  satisfactory 
conclusions  as  to  the  functions  of  the  vocal 
organ.  He  has,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  sequel, 
attached  special  importance  to  much  that  is 
unessential  and  abnormal,  and  the  main  facts, 
the  elucidation  of  which  is  particularly  needed, 
he  has  scarcely  mentioned.  Thus  he  tells  us 
nothing  of  that  series  of  tones  which  he  calls 
the  head  register.  The  transition  also  of  the 
registers  he  has  not  carefully  examined  and 
observed  in  different  voices :  the  chest  register 
in  the  male  and  the  falsetto  of  the  female  voice. 

Nevertheless,  these  investigations  possess  much 
that  is  valuable,  and  are  of  special  value  to  the 
art   of  singing,   because   they   teach    a    method 


50  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

hitherto  unknown  of  observing  the  larynx,  by 
which  sure  and  satisfactory  results  are  reached. 
And  when  an  acquaintance  with  these  results 
comes  to  be  universally  diffused,  and  the  art 
of  singing  is  thereby  led  into  the  right  direc- 
tion, we  shall  owe  it  most  especially  to  the 
excellent  experimental  observations  of  Garcia. 

Garcia  has  accepted  the  division  made  by 
Muller,  and  universally  adopted  in  science,  of  the 
chest,  falsetto  and  head  registers.  I  employ  the 
same  distinctions — a  fact  which  it  seems  worth 
while  to  mention,  simply  because  every  teacher 
and  school  have  their  own  terminology,  and  in- 
stead of  falsetto  we  have  ftstel,  throat,  and  middle 
or  neck  voice,  &c.  These  denominations  of  the 
same  registers  have  thus  far  only  increased  the 
obscurity  prevailing  in  the  art  of  singing. 


MY  OWN  OBSERVATIONS  WITH  THE  LARYN- 
GOSCOPE 

In  giving  an  account  of  my  own  observations 
with  the  laryngoscope,  I  premise  that  laryngo- 
scopy has  of  late  attracted  much  attention 
among  the  learned,  and  that  Czermak,  Turk, 
Merkel,  Lewin,  Bataille,  &c,  have  published  a 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  51 

series  of  valuable  observations,  all  of  which, 
however,  with  the  exception  of  Bataille's,  were 
made  in  the  interest  of  science,  for  pathological 
purposes  especially.  My  aim,  in  the  employment 
of  the  laryngoscope,  has  been  directed  exclusively 
to  the  discovery  of  the  natural  limits  of  the 
different  registers  of  the  human  voice;  and  al- 
though I  have  thus  been  able  to  observe  many 
other  interesting  processes,  it  would  not  at  all 
accord  with  the  design  of  this  book  to  commu- 
nicate observations  which  have  no  direct  rela- 
tion to  the  culture  of  the  voice  in  singing,  and 
which  come  better  from  men  of  science  than 
from  a  teacher  of  vocal  music. 

In  using  the  laryngoscope  while  the  breath 
is  quietly  drawn,  I  saw,  as  Garcia  did,  the  whole 
larynx  wide  open,  so  that  one  could  easily  in- 
troduce a  finger  into  it,  and  the  rings  of  the 
trachea  were  plainly  visible. 

*  It  must  be  remarked  that  the  diagrams  here  given  are 
copies  of  reflected  images,  and  therefore  the  upper  side  of  the 
representation  shows  the  front  of  the  larynx,  and  the  lower 
th*  farther  side  of  the  larynx. 


52  THE  VOICE  IN  SINGING 

When  those  who  had  become  accustomed  to 
the  introduction  of  the  instrument  sang,  at  my 
request,  a,  as  pronounced  in  the  English  word 
man,  in  a  deep  tone,  the  epiglottis  rose,  the 
tongue  formed  a  cavity  from  within  forwards, 
and  thus  rendered  it  easy  to  see  into  the  lar- 
ynx. So  soon  as  the  a,  as  in  father,  was  sung, 
the  cover  quickly  fell,  the  tongue  rose,  and 
prevented  all  observation  of  the  organ  of  sing- 
ing. The  other  vowels  are  still  less  favor- 
able to  observation,  because  they  do  not  admit 
of  any  such  wide  opening  of  the  mouth.  Strong 
tones  also  are  unfavorable  to  observation,  as 
Garcia  also  remarked ;  and  this  is  very  natural, 
because  strong  and  sonorous  tones  require  greater 
exertions  of  the  singing  organ,  and,  above  all 
things,  the  right  position  of  those  parts  of  the 
larynx  and  mouth  which  serve  as  a  resonance 
apparatus  in  the  formation  of  sound.  In  order 
to  be  able  to  see  perfectly  the  whole  glottis,  all 
this  resonance  apparatus  must  be  drawn  back 
as  far  as  possible,  and  the  rim  of  the  larynx 
must  be  tolerably  flat.  Thus  only  faint  and 
weak  sounds  are  favorable  to  observation. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  53 


THE   CHEST   REGISTER 

When  the  vowel  a,  as  in  man,  was  sung,  I 
could,  after  long-continued  practice,  plainly  see 
how  the  arytenoid  cartilages  quickly  rose  with 
their  summits  in  their  mucous  membranous  case 
and  approached  to  mutual  contact.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  chordae  vocales,  or  inferior  vocal  chords, 
approached  each  other  so  closely  that  scarcely  any 
space  between  them  was  observable.  The  supe- 
rior or  false  vocal  ligaments  formed  the  ellipse 
described  by  Garcia  in  the  upper  part  of  the  glottis. 

a.  Superior  or  false  vocal 

ligaments,  or  chords. 

b.  Epiglottis. 

c.  Inferior  or  true  vocal 

ligaments. 

d.  Arytenoid  cartilages. 

e.  Capitula  Santorini.  ***     &' 

Representation  in  the  mirror  of  the 
vocal  organ  in  giving  out  sound. 

When,  in  using  the  laryngoscope  upon  my- 
self, I  slowly  sang  the  ascending  scale,  this  move- 
ment of  the  vocal  chords  and  arytenoid  carti- 
lages was  repeated  at  every  tone.  They  separated 
and  appeared  to  retreat,  in  order  to  close  again 
anew,  and  to  rise  somewhat  more  than  before. 
This  movement  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages  may 

5* 


54  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

best  be  compared  to  that  of  a  pair  of  scissors 
With  every  higher  tone  the  vocal  ligaments 
seemed  more  stretched  and  the  glottis  somewhat 
shorter. — [The  glottis  is  a  term  applied  to  the 
space  occupied  by  the  vocal  chords  (the  lips  of  the 
glottis) :  when  separated,  we  say  the  glottis  is  open, 
when  they  touch,  that  it  is  closed.] — At  the  same 
lime,  when  I  sang  the  scale  upward,  beginning 
with  the  lowest  tones,  the  vocal  ligaments  seemed 
to  be  moved  in  their  whole  length  and  breadth 
by  large,  loose  vibrations,  which  extended  even 
to  all  the  rest  of  the  interior  of  the  larynx. 

The  place  at  which  the  arytenoid  cartilages,  al- 
most closed  together,  cease  their  action  and  leave 
the  formation  of  the  sound  to  the  vocal  ligaments 
alone,  I  found  in  the  entire  vibration  of  the  glot- 
tis, or  in  the  chest  register  of  the  female  voice, 


at  do  do  %  1  X    ,      |   ,  more  rarely  at  si 


In  the  chest  register  of  the  male  voice  this  change 


occurs  at  la  si  b  [7u  •     With  some  effort 


the  above-mentioned  action  of  the  arytenoid  car- 
tilages may  be  continued  several  tones  higher. 
But  such  tones,  especially  in  the  female  voice, 
have   that    rough   and    common    timbre   which 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  55 

we  are  too  often  compelled  to  hear  in  our 
female  singers.  The  glottis  also,  in  this  case, 
as  well  as  the  parts  of  the  larynx  near  the 
glottis,  betrays  the  effort  very  plainly;  as  the 
tones  ascend,  they  grow  more  and  more  red. 
Thus,  as  at  this  place  in  the  chest  register  there 
occurs  a  visible  and  sensible  straining  of  the  organs, 
so  also  is  it  in  all  the  remaining  transitions,  as  soon 
as  the  attempt  is  made  to  extend  the  action  by  which 
the  lower  tones  are  formed  beyond  the  given  limits 
of  the  same.  These  transitions,  which  cannot  be 
extended  without  effort,  coincide  perfectly  with 
the  places  where  J.  Midler  had  to  stretch  the 
ligaments  of  his  exsected  larynx  so  powerfully 
in  order  to  reach  the  succeeding  half-tone. 
Garcia  likewise  finds  tones  thus  formed  dis- 
agreeable and  imperfect  in  sound  (Jclanglos). 


Usually,  therefore,  at  the  note  do  $ 


f* 


in 


the  fpmale  voice,  and  la  si  b-  ~7k  ^  in  the  male 

J    :st  trJ- 


9 

voice,  the  vocal  ligaments  alone  act  in  forming 
the  sound,  and  throughout  the  register  are 
moved  by  large,  loose,  full  vibrations  (Total- 
8chwingungen).  But  the  instant  the  vocal  liga- 
ments are  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  the  ary- 


56  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

tenoid  cartilages,  they  relax  and  appear  longer 
than  at  the  last  tone  produced  by  that  aid.  But 
with  every  higher  tone  they  appear  again  to  be 
stretched    shorter   and    more   powerfully  up   to 


fa  fa  %  Vfa— -!-r-H ,  the  natural  transition  of  both 


Opt 


the  chest  and  falsetto  registers,  as  well  in  the 
male  as  in  the  female.  The  larynx  is  perceptibly 
lower  in  all  the  tones  of  the  chest  register  than 
in  quiet  breathiug. 


THE   FALSETTO   EEGISTER 

All  the  tones  of  the  falsetto  register  are  pro* 
duced  by  vibrations  only  of  the  fine,  inner, 
slender  edges  of  the  vocal  ligaments.  In  this 
action  the  vocal  ligaments  are  not  so  near  to- 
gether, but  allow  of  a  fine  linear  space  between 
them,  and  the  superior  ligaments  are  pressed 
farther  back  than  in  the  production  of  the 
tones  of  the  chest  register.  The  rest  of  the 
action  of  the  glottis  is,  however,  entirely  the 
same.  With  the  beginning  of  the  falsetto  regis- 
ter at  fa  #  [(C)  itJj-  *^e  wno^e  glottis  appears 
again  longer,  and  the  vocal  ligaments  are  much 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 


57 


looser  than  in  the  highest  tones  of  the  chest 
register.  The  united  action,  already  described, 
of  the  arytenoid  cartilages  and  the  ligaments  in 
forming  the  deeper  tones  of  the  chest  register, 
extends  to  do  do  ft 


E 


^XL 


and  in  the  male  voice  to  mi  (?•  mi 


in  the  female  voice, 


commonly  written  thus:  mi  [7  mi  ig 


but  which  only  rarely  occurs  in  composition,  and 
then  is  sung  by  tenorists  as  I  have  given  it ;  that 
is,  one  octave  lower. 
With  the  do  ft 


iSat 


in  the  female  voice  and 


the  mi  7  mi  Eg 


in  the  male  voice,  the  ary- 
tenoid cartilages  cease  again  to  act,  and  as  before, 
at  the  second  higher  series  of  tones  of  the  chest 
register,  leave  the  formation  of  the  sounds  to  the 
vocal  ligaments  alone,  which  at  this  change  ap- 
pear again   longer   and   looser,  but  with   every 

higher  tone  tighten  up  to  fa  fa  ft  \/[s  f~  S  in  the 


female  voice,  and  in  the  male  voice  to  sol 


or  as 


it  is  commonly  written  :  I  (ft )         1 .      In  the 


C* 


58 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


falsetto  register  the  larynx  preserves  its  natural 
position,  as  in  quiet  breathing. 

THE   HEAD   REGISTER 

When  in  the  observation  of  the  falsetto  re- 
gister I  had  sung  upwards  to  its  highest  tones, 
and  then  sang  still  higher,  I  became  aware  with 


the  fa£ 


of  a  change  in  the  motions  of 


the  organ  of  singing,  and  the  tones  thus  pro- 
duced had  a  different  timbre  from  the  falsetto 
tones.  It  required  long  and  patient  practice 
before  I  finally  succeeded  in  drawing  back  the 
epiglottis  so  that  I  could  see  the  glottis  in  its 
whole  length.  Not  until  then  was  I  able  to 
observe  the  following : 


With  the  fa  %  ffl)i"l.«  the   vocal   ligaments 


suddenly  closed  firmly  together  to  their  middle, 
with  their  fine  edges  one  over  the  other. 


a.  The  closing  together  of 

the  vocal  ligaments. 

b.  Open  part  of  the  glottis. 


The  oval  opening  of  the  anterior  por- 
tion of  the  glottis  is  imperfectly  shewn, 
because  it  is  hidden  from  view  by  th« 
epiglottis  at  the  extreme  end. 


Representation  in  the  mirror  of 
the  organ  of  singing  in  the 
formation  of  head  tones. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  59 

This  closing  appeared  as  a  fine  red  line  extend- 
ing from  the  arytenoid  cartilages  at  the  back 
forward  to  the  middle  of  the  vocal  ligaments, 
and  leaving  free  only  a  third  part  of  the  whole 
glottis,  immediately  under  the  epiglottis,  to  the 
front  wall  of  the  larynx. 

The  foremost  part  of  the  glottis  formed  an 
oval  orifice,  which,  with  each  higher  tone, 
seemed  to  contract  more  and  more,  and  so  became 
smaller  and  rounder.  The  fine  edges  of  the 
vocal  ligaments  which  formed  this  orifice  were 
alone  vibrating,  and  the  vibrations  seemed  at  first 
looser,  but,  with  every  higher  tone,  the  ligaments 
were  more  stretched.  The  larynx  remained  in 
its  natural  state. 

Only  after  I  had  frequently  repeated  this 
observation  of  the  head  tones  in  myself  and  in 
others,  and  had  always  arrived  at  the  same 
results,  did  I  venture  to  publish  it.  The  most 
various  conjectures  respecting  the  formation  of 
the  head  voice  had  been  previously  proposed  by 
the  learned,  and  the  existence,  even,  of  the  head 
voice  had  been  denied  by  Bataille.  It  would 
lead  us  too  far  away  to  make  mention  here  of 
all  these  different  views,  which,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  those  of  Dr.  Merhel  of  Leipzig,  showed 


60  TEE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

themselves  to  be  really  without  a  sound  foun* 
lation. 

It  was  objected  to  the  results  of  niy  observa- 
tions, that  such  an  action  of  the  glottis  "was 
only  possible  by  means  of  cartilages  and  muscles, 
but  that  such  cartilages  and  muscles  as  could 
render  an  action  of  that  kind  possible  were  not 
known,  nor  was  there  any  reference  to  them  to 
be  found  in  any  manual  of  anatomy."  While  I 
fully  admitted  the  soundness  of  this  objection, 
I  was,  after  repeated  observations,  more  and 
more  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  my  own 
statements.  But  as  I  found  nothing  to  support 
them  in  any  anatomical  work,  either  German 
or  French,  I  began  anew  to  study  the  anatomy 
of  the  larynx  in  dissected  subjects. 

My  renewed  efforts  were  rewarded  by  the 
discovery,  within  the  membranes  of  the  vocal 
ligaments,  of  those  filaments  or  fibres  of  muscle 
which  in  the  anatomical  Appendix  to  this 
book  I  mention  as  arytenoid-thyroid  interna, 
and  which  have  also  been  found  by  other  ob- 
servers. They  are  found  in  all  larynxes,  and 
consist  of  muscular  fibres,  sometimes  finer,  some- 
times thicker.* 

*  In  recent  works  on  laryngoscopy  they  are  often  described 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  61 

At  the  same  time  I  satisfied  myself  of  the 
existence  of  a  pair  of  cartilages — the  cuneiform 
cartilages  described  in  the  Appendix.  I  found 
these  always  in  the  female  larynx,  but  only 
now  and  then  in  the  male.  As  these  car- 
tilages, also  found  within  the  membranes  of 
the  vocal  ligaments  and  reaching  from  theii 
junction  with  the  arytenoid  cartilages  to  the 
middle  of  the  ligaments,  are  only  now  and  then 
fully  formed  in  the  male  larynx,  but  undeniably 
work  the  shutting  part  of  the  glottis,  it  follows 
plainly  that  only  a  few  male  voices  are  capable 
of  producing  the  head  tones. 

But  observation  with  the  microscope  revealed 
in  those  larynxes  in  which  the  cuneiform  carti- 
lages were  wanting,  parts  of  a  cartilaginous 
mass,  or  the  rudiments  of  a  cartilage,  in  the  place 
indicated. 

For  anatomical  investigations  the  male  lar- 
ynx is  commonly  used,  its  muscles  being  more 
powerful  and  its  cartilages  firmer  than  in  the 
female  larynx,  and  this  explains  why  anatomists 
in  Germany  have  been  reluctant  to  admit  the 
existence   of  the  cuneiform  cartilages.     It  wras, 

as  continuations  or  parts  of  ono  of  the  principal  muscles  of 
the  laryn  c 
6 


62  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

therefore,  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  find  them 
described  under  the  name  of  cuneiform  cartilages 
in  Wilson's  Human  Anatomy,  with  the  remark 
that  they  are  sometimes  wanting.* 

The  head  register  possesses  a  very  great  ca- 
pacity of  expansion,  which,  without  the  slight- 
est straining,  may  be  gradually  extended,  with 
some  practice,  a  whole  octave,  and  often  even 
still  farther  upwards.  When  the  transition  is 
made  from  the  highest  tones  of  the  falsetto  re- 
gister to  the  head  register,  there  is  experienced 
the  same  sense  of  relief  in  the  organs  of  sing- 
ing as  in  passing  from  the  chest  to  the  falsetto 
register.  And  this  is  very  easy  to  be  under- 
stood, because  the  ligaments  by  this  repeated 
partial  closure  of  the  glottis  are  much  less 
stretched  than  in  the  highest  tones  of  the  pre- 
ceding lower  register.  The  difference  in  sound 
between  the  highest  tones  of  the  falsetto  and  head 
registers  is  often  slight,  on  which  account  these 
two  registers,  so  different  in  their  mechanism, 
are  easily  confounded.  Only  in  entirely  healthy 
vocal  organs  can  the  head  tones  be  observed.     A 

*  In  recent  French  and  English  works  upon  laryngoscopy, 
the  cuneiform  cartilages  are  frequently  mentioned,  and  some- 
times confounded  with  the  cartilages  Wrisbergi. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  63 

too  great  secretion  of  mucus,  or  any  inflamma- 
tion of  the  mucous  membrane,  embarrasses  the 
formation  of  head  and  falsetto  tones,  while  the 
vibrations  of  the  fine  edges  of  the  vocal 
ligaments  are  thereby  obstructed.  The  charac- 
ter of  the  vocal  organ  fully  explains  why  in 
the  case  of  sick  or  of  worn-out  voices  it  is 
always  the  high  tones  that  are  first  lost.  When 
I  have  observed,  in  the  sick,  irritation  of  the 
mucous  membrane,  I  have  often  found  the  oval 
orifice  which  is  formed  in  the  production  of  1  he 
head  tones  entirely  covered  with  mucus.  In  my 
own  case,  when  by  repeated  effort  this  bubble 


of  mucus  broke,  instead  of  the  a  '/,    I      ,  which 


I  meant  to  be  sounded,  there  came  the  a,  an 
octave  higher,  which  in  perfect  health  it  was 
never  possible  for  me  to  reach.  I  have  observed 
the  same  phenomenon  sometimes  in  my  pupils. 

"When  one  sings  the  scale,  note  by  note  down- 
wards, one  can  sing  with  the  action  of  the  higher 
register  many  of  the  tones  of  the  lower,  without 
any  observable  straining  of  the  organ ;  indeed, 
there  is  a  perceptible  feeling  of  relief;  only 
these  tones  are  not  so  full  as  when  sung  in  their 
natural  register. 


64  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


ABNORMAL   MOVEMENTS   OF  THE   GLOTTIS 

Garcia  states,  in  his  observations,  that  some- 
times when  the  rims  of  the  vocal  ligaments 
have  come  together,  there  remains  between 
the  arytenoid  cartilages  a  triangular  space, 
which  does  not  close  until  the  tone  is  produced. 
Czermak  likewise  describes  this  process  in  his 
pathological  investigations,  and  also  a  similar 
one  with  the  laryngoscope.  While,  namely,  the 
arytenoid  cartilages  seem  to  be  wholly  closed, 
one  sees  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  tone 
the  vocal  ligaments  standing  apart  in  a  square- 
shaped  form,  and  only  closing  together  with  the 
tone.  At  first,  before  I  had  attained  to'  much 
practice  in  observation,  I  often  saw  these  pro- 
cesses in  myself,  and  later  often  in  others. 

That  these  accidental  forms  of  the  glottis  bear 
no  relation  to  the  generation  of  sounds,  as  Funhe 
truly  says,  is  made  evident  by  an  irregularity 
in  the  combined  action  of  the  muscles  of  the 
larynx,  by  which  the  coming  together  of  the 
arytenoid  cartilages  takes  place  later  than  that 
of  the  ligaments,  or  that  of  the  ligaments  later 
than  that  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


65 


As  recently  great  importance  has  often  been 
ascribed  to  these  abnormal  movements  of  the 
glottis  in  the  generation  of  sound,  I  have  felt 
bound  to  mention  them. 


RESULTS   OF  THE   FOREGOING   OBSERVATIONS 

In  consequence  of  the  observations  above  de- 
scribed, the  following  facts  may  be  established  : 

I.  We  have  found  five  different  actions  of  the 
vocal  organ : 

1.  The  first  series  of  tones  of  the  chest  register, 
in  which  the  whole  glottis  is  moved  by  large, 
loose  vibrations,  and  the  arytenoid  cartilages 
with  the  vocal  ligaments  are  in  action. 

2.  The  second  series  of  the  chest  register,  when 
the  vocal  ligaments  alone  act,  and  are  like- 
wise moved  by  large,  loose  vibrations. 

3.  The  first  series  of  the  falsetto  register,  where 

again  the  whole  glottis,  consisting  of  the  aryte- 
6* 


66  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

noid  cartilages  and  vocal  ligaments,  is  in  action, 
the  very  fine  interior  edges  of  the  ligaments, 
however,  being  alone  in  vibrating  motion. 

4.  The  second  series  of  the  falsetto  register,  the 
(ones  of  which  are  generated  by  the  vibrations 
of  the  edges  alone  of  the  vocal  ligaments. 

5.  The  head  register,  in  the  same  manner  and 
by  the  same  vibrations,  and  with  a  partial  clos- 
ing of  the  vocal  ligaments. 

II.  We  have  learned  the  transitions  of  the 
registers,  i.  e.  those  tones  where  a  different 
action  of  the  vocal  organ  takes  place;  and 
observation  has  further  taught  us  that  these 
natural  limits  of  the  registers  cannot  be  exceeded 
without  a  straining  that  may  be  both  seen  and 
felt ;  that  is,  that  we  may  not  preserve  the 
action  of  a  lower  series  for  the  tones  of  a 
higher.  On  the  other  hand,  the  vocal  organs 
show  no  straining  when  the  action  of  a  higher 
series  of  tones  is  kept  for  a  lower,  only  the 
fulness  of  the  tones  is  thereby  diminishf.d. 

III.  We  have  further  seen  that  only  the  tran- 
sition from  the  chest  register  to  the  falsetto  is  in 

all  voices  at  the  same  tones,  the  fa  fa  % 


but,  both  in  men's  and  women's  voices,  the  other 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  67 

transitions  of  the  registers  are  different.  As  the 
male  larynx  is  about  a  third  larger  than  the 
female,  it  is  plain  that  the  registers  in  the  male 
voice  have  a  greater  expansion.  The  transitions, 
however,  in  the  tenor,  as  in  the  bass,  are  at  the 
same  tones,  and  only  sometimes  a  half  tone 
higher  or  lower  in  one  voice  than  in  another. 
The  organs  of  the  man  are  stronger  and  harder 
than  those  of  the  woman,  and  they  are  not  often 
capable  of  producing  tones  with  the  vibrations 
of  the  edges  of  the  vocal  ligaments  (falsetto 
tones),  but  the  lower  series  of  tones  of  the  chest 
register  has,  in  such  voices,  a  much  greater 
extension  downwards.  The  difference  between  the 
bass  and  tenor  voices  lies  in  the  greater  or  less  ease 
with  which  the  tones  of  the  higher  or  lower  registers 
are  sung,  and  in  the  greater  fulness  and  beauty, 
always  connected  therewith,  of  the  higher  or  lower 
register,  that  is,  in  the  timbre  of  the  voice;  not, 
as  is  commonly  thought,  in  the  difference  of  the 
transitions  of  the  registers. 

The  same  is  also  the  case  with  the  female 
voice ;  as  well  in  the  contralto  as  in  the  soprano 
voice  the  transitions  of  the  registers  are  at  the 
same  tones,  and  the  difference  of  the  voices  lies 
only  in  the  timbre,  and  in  the  greater  facility 


68 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


with  which  the  higher  or  lower  tones  are  pro- 
duced, and  not  in  the  different  compass  of  the 
voice. 

The  transitions  of  the  registers  are : 


IN   THE   MALE   VOICE 


TENOR  VOICE 
First  series  of  the    Second  series.    First  series  of  the 
chest  register.  falsetto. 


CDEFGABcdefga 

First  series  of  the  chest  register. 
BASS   VOICE. 


b  c  d  e  f 

Second  series, 


a,  &c. 


IN   THE    FEMALE   VOICE 


First  series  of  the 
chest  register. 

Second  se- 
ries of  the 

chest 
register. 

First  series 

of  the  falsetto 

register. 

Second 
series  of 
the  fal- 
setto re- 
gister. 

Head  register. 

e  f  g  a  b  c 

d  e  f 

g  a  b  c 

d  e  f 

g  a  b  c  d  e  f 

The  investigation  and  discovery  of  the  facts 
here  stated  have  been  made  with  the  utmost 
conscientiousness,  repeated  by  men  of  science  in 
Germany,  and  acknowledged  as  correct. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  69 

PRACTICAL  APPLICATION  OF  THESE  OBSERVA- 
TIONS TO  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  THE  SING- 
ING  VOICE 

In  teaching  the  art  of  singing,  it  is  now-a- 
days  very  generally  the  custom  to  endeavor  to 
raise  the  lower  registers  as  far  as  possible  toward 
the  higher.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the 
tenor  voice.  It  is  considered  a  special  advan- 
tage in  a  tenor  voice  when  it  can  sing  the  a 

f commonly  written) 
(correctly  written) 


on   the  first   leger   line     3£ 
with  the  chest  register. 


Upwards  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
when  every  good  tenor  was  required  to  sing  a 
with  a  clear,  full  chest  tone,  this  note,  according 
to  the  orchestra  pitch  then,  was  not  higher  than  a 
note  between  f  and  f  t,  according  to  the  present 
orchestra  pitch  in  England  and  America.  Since 
that  time  the  orchestra  pitch  has  everywhere 
gradually  risen  so  imperceptibly  that  this  import- 
ant fact  remained  unknown  to  many  singers  and 
teachers,  and  until  recently  has  been  only  rarely 
noticed.  And  yet  it  is  precisely  this  much  higher 
pitch  and  the  consequent  unnatural  extension  of 
the   limits   of  the   registers,  which  is  the  chief 


70  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

cause  why  most  voices  now-a-days  last  so  little 
while. 

That  the  registers  may  be  forced  up  beyond 
their  limits  is  possible,  we  have  seen.  But  obser- 
vation teaches  us  that  it  cannot  be  done  with- 
out a  straining  of  the  organs  which  may  be  both 
seen  and  felt,  and  no  organ  will  bear  continued 
over-straining.  It  will  gradually  be  weakened 
thereby,  and  become  at  last  wholly  useless. 

This  is  a  simple  fact,  scientifically  established, 
universally  known.  It  admits,  therefore,  of  no 
doubt  that  the  common  custom  of  forcing  the 
registers  beyond  their  natural  bounds  injures 
voices,  and  seriously  affects  their  durability. 
Even  when  the  organs  are  so  strong  that  they 
can  bear  the  unnatural  effort  for  a  considerable 
length  of  time,  they  gain  nothing  in  grace  and 
timbre.  Like  every  thing  else  unnatural,  it  car- 
ries with  it  its  own  punishment.  Our  tenor 
singers  are,  for  the  most  part,  only  for  a  few 
years  in  full  possession  of  their  voices,  while  the 
earlier  singers  knew  how  to  keep  their  voices 
fine  and  full  to  their  latest  age. 

Not  until  1858,  when  the  orchestra  pitch  in 
Paris  had  risen  for  a  to  448  vibrations  in  a 
second,  and  tenors  were  no  longer  able  to  reach 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  71 

it  with  the  chest  register,  was  general  attention 
turned  to  this  evil.  The  Academy  at  that  time 
fixed  the  orchestra  pitch  at  435  vibrations  a 
second  for  a.  This  pitch  is  now  introduced 
almost  universally  in  Germany,  and  it  is  a  full 
half  note  lower  than  our  usual  orchestra  pitch  in 
America.  The  introduction  of  the  Paris  pitch  is, 
however,  of  no  great  advantage  so  long  as  sing- 
ers and  teachers  keep  to  the  same  limits  of  the 
registers  that  they  had  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  a  had  404  vibrations 
in  a  second,  and  was  about  a  third  lower  than  our 
present  a.  Musicians  are  averse  to  the  introduction 
of  this  old  low  pitch,  as  the  instruments  are  no 
longer  accommodated  to  it.  And  besides,  it  is  not 
at  all  necessary,  if  only  singers  and  teachers  would 
observe  it  better,  and  either  set  their  pieces  a  third 
lower,  or  sing  the  notes  that  are  difficult  to  be 
reached  with  a  lower  register  in  a  natural  way 
and  with  a  higher  register. 

The  old  Italian  masters  were  proud  of  being 
able  so  to  educate  the  falsetto  register  of  a  tenor 
voice  that  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  chest 
tones  and  falsetto  tones  from  one  another,  even 
for  an  ear  accustomed  to  observe  the  finest  dis- 
tinctions of  sound.     And  this  art  is  by  no  meaii3 


72  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

so  difficult  as  is  supposed,  and  is  not  dependent 
on  the  natural  strength  of  the  first  falsetto  tones. 
"When  in  the  male  organ  there  exists  the  power 
of  bringing  the  edges  of  the  vocal  ligaments  into 
vibratory  motion,  and  when  these  tones  at  the 
beginning,  compared  with  the  chest  tones  of  the 
same  voice,  are  weak  and  thin,  then  they  may, 
with  skill  and  perseverance,  be  trained  to  quite 
similar  fulness. 

That  the  male  voice  requires  far  more  time 
and  practice  than  the  female  to  effect  an  imper- 
ceptible transition  from  the  chest  register  to  the 
falsetto,  is  unquestionable.  And  while  this  tran- 
sition is  always  so  very  apparent  in  the  man's 
voice,  it  is  often  scarcely  observable  to  a  practiced 
ear  even  in  uncultivated  female  voices.  Women, 
in  speaking,  always  use  the  second  chest  and  the 
^rst  falsetto  register,  continually  passing  from  one 
>  the  other  of  these  registers  without  any  change 
in  the  position  of  the  mouth  or  of  the  resonance 
apparatus  of  the  voice.  They  are  thus  all  their 
lives  long  unconsciously  practicing  this  transition, 
and  because  of  this  equal  physical  use  of  the  chest 
and  falsetto  notes,  the  great  physiological  differ- 
ence of  these  two  registers  almost  entirely  disap- 
pears.     Although  men  do  not  use  the  falsetto 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  73 

register  in  speaking,  it  is  not  yet  proved  to  be 
impossible  for  the  male  voice  to  attain  the  same 
results  as  the  female. 

When  in  the  beginning  the  falsetto  tones  are 
sung  always  piano  and  very  staccato,  by  long- 
continued,  careful  practice,  with  entirely  the  same 
physical  treatment  of  both  registers,  a  smooth  and 
natural  transition  from  one  to  the  other  is  most 
easily  obtained.  Thus  the  falsetto  tones  gain 
more  and  more  in  fulness  and  strength,  and 
sound  far  more  agreeably  than  the  forced-up  chest 
tones  of  our  tenorists,  sung  with  swTollen-out 
throats  and  blood-red  faces. 

The  education  of  men's  voices  involves  manv 
difficulties  which  do  not  exist  in  the  case  of  the 
voices  of  women.  Almost  all  men  speak  and  sing 
in  one  register — tenors  mostly  in  the  second  chest 
register,  bassos  mostly  in  the  first,  and  oftentimes 
indeed  not  even  in  a  correct  natural  manner. 
With  this  one  register  they  sing  as  high  and  as 
low  as  they  can,  and  this  they  consider  the  whole 
compass  of  their  voices.  The  low  chest  register 
is  rarely  found  good  and  natural  (as  regards  the 
beauty  of  sound).  In  order  for  the  production 
of  these  low  chest  tones,  to  set  the  vocal  chorda 
vibrating  in  their  whole  length  and  breadth,  it  is 


74  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

necessary  that  a  fuller  column  of  air  from  the 
lungs  should  press  upon  the  glottis  through  the 
windpipe,  which  is  readily  of  itself  enlarged 
thereby.  The  easier  and  the  more  naturally  this 
takes  place,  the  more  beautifully  and  naturally  do 
these  tones  sound.  Under  the  delusion  that  only 
strong  singing  is  beautiful,  and  that  this  can  be 
achieved  only  by  extraordinary  exertion,  most  of 
our  basso  singers  have  a  peculiar  way  of  pressing 
out  the  windpipe,  which  is  not  only  very  fatigu- 
ing, but  gives  to  the  low  tones  a  rough,  disagree- 
able sound.  Among  public  speakers  also  this 
exhausting,  faulty  way  of  bringing  out  the  chest 
tones  is  not  uncommon,  frequently  rendering  their 
voices  quite  incapable  of  use.  Merkd  represents 
this  way  of  forming  the  low  tones  as  a  peculiar 
register,  which  he  calls  the  Strohbassregister,  and 
through  him  a  quite  prevalent  bad  habit  has 
found  in  other  scientific  works  a  right  to  existence 
which  by  no  means  belongs  to  it. 

The  female  voice  is  treated  in  the  same  un- 
natural way.  Many  teachers  teach  their  pupils 
to  sing  with  the  lower  series  of  the  chest  regis- 
ter as  high  up  as  possible,  often  to  the  e  f 
,  as  far  as  the  organs  perjnit,  and  then 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  75 

let  them  begin  the  falsetto  register.  In  this  way 
the  second  series  of  the  chest  register  is  entirely 
omitted ;  but  the  made  tones,  as  the  expression 
is,  thus  obtained,  sound  very  disagreeable  and 
coarse,  and  the  falsetto  tones,  which  in  this  way 
begin  lower  than  necessary,  are  on  the  contrary 
faint  and  weak.  Of  the  falsetto  register  these 
teachers  commonly  require  only  the  first  series, 

up   to  d  e  (7   ^  f  'T  : ,   to  be  sung,  and   then 


directly  begin  the  head  tones.  Thus  the  second 
series  of  the  falsetto  is  not  used ;  but  the  tones 
belonging  to  it,  which  are  sung  with  the  first 
series  of  the  falsetto  register,  are  for  the  most 
part  hard  and  sharp  and  seldom  pure,  while 
the  tones  of  the  head  voice,  coming  in  too 
soon,  are  thin  and  unmusical,  and  the  whole 
voice  thus  receives  an  irregular  formation. 
Many  teachers,  again,  allow  the  lower  tones 
of  the  chest  register  to  be  sung  with  the 
higher  series  of  the  same,  whereby  these  tones 
are  naturally  never  as  sweet  and  strong.  Then, 
too,  they  press  the  first  series  of  the  falsetto  up 


to  1 1  e  b  j^h~ ^"TJ ,  and  thence,   as  far  as  it  is 


possible,  the  voice  is  to  ascend  with  the  second 
series  of  the  falsetto,  without  admitting  the  head 


76  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

tones,  even  in  voices  with  the  high  soprano 
timbre.  But  the  tones  thus  forced  up  are  for  the 
most  part  sharp  and  destitute  of  all  grace.  And 
it  is  just  this  that  is  one  of  the  commonest  faults 
of  our  present  mode  of  singing. 

As  it  has  been  customary  to  cultivate,  in  the 
male  voice  only,  the  three  lower  series,  because 
both  of  the  highest  sound  sweet  and  graceful 
only  from  the  soft,  delicate  organs  of  the  female 
voice,  and  as  the  male  voice  is  rarely  capable  of 
compassing  the  highest  series,  the  erroneous  idea 
has  gradually  obtained  prevalence  among  teachers 
of  singing,  that  there  are  only  three  different 
series  of  tones,  and  that  the  female  voice  has 
only  two  transitions. 

In  voices  fresh  and  unvitiated  the  different 
series  are  very  easily  distinguished  by  their 
different  timbre.  One  hears  this  difference  of 
timbre  most  clearly  in  the  transition  of  the 
second  series  of  the  chest  register  into  the 
falsetto  in  the  male  voice,  and  in  the  female 
voice  at  the  transition  of  the  first  series  of  the 
falsetto  register  into  the  second. 

As  has  been  observed,  the  larynx  stands  lower 
with  the  tones  of  the  chest  register  than  with 
the  tones  of  the  other  registers,  or  during  quiet 
breathing. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  77 

In  order,  in  the  low  chest  tones,  to  bring  the 
whole  glottis  into  full  vibration,  the  air,  as  it  is 
expired,  must  press  upon  it  with  a  larger  vol- 
ume. From  all  parts  of  the  lungs  the  air,  when 
expired,  presses  into  the  windpipe,  the  rings  of 
which,  widening  as  much  as  possible,  come 
somewhat  nearer  to  each  other  and  draw  down 
the  larynx. 

One  has  thus  the  sensation  as  if  the  whole 
body  took  part  in  this  formation  of  sound,  and 
as  if  the  lower  tones  of  the  chest  register  were 
drawn  from  the  lowest  part  of  the  lungs. 

In  producing  the  second  series  of  the  chest 
register,  the  sensation  is  as  if  the  tones  came 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  chest,  midway  be- 
tween the  pit  of  the  stomach  and  the  larynx. 

With  regard  to  the  tones  of  the  first  series  of 
the  falsetto,  the  feeling  is  as  if  they  had  their 
origin  in  the  throat. 

In  the  tones  of  the  second  series  of  the  falsetto, 
we  feel  as  if  the  throat  had  nothing  to  do  with 
them — as  if  they  were  formed  above,  in  the 
mouth. 

With  the  head  tones,  one  has  the  feeling  that 
they  come  from  the  forehead. 

It  is  these  physical  sensations  that  have  given 

7* 


78  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

occasion  to  many  erroneous  conjectures  in  regard 
to  the  formation  of  tones,  but  we  are  satisfied 
that  they  have  no  direct  relation  to  the  genera- 
tion of  sound,  and  appear  so  only  through  the 
nerves  active  in  the  process. 

By  directing  the  attention  of  one's  pupils 
to  these  different  sensations,  it  is  very  easy  to 
make  them  acquainted  with  the  different  regis- 
ters of  the  voice — always  a  very  necessary  pro- 
ceeding in  the  first  training  of  a  voice,  although 
it  seems  to  be  so  only  in  the  case  of  such  voices 
as  have  been  previously  misdirected. 

The  culture  of  the  female  voice  is  best  begun 
with  the  two  series  of  the  falsetto  register  and 
the  second  of  the  chest  register;  the  tones  of 
these  three  middle  registers  must  be  pretty  well 
cultivated  before  the  lowest  chest  tones  and  the 
head  voice  are  begun  to  be  formed.  The  voice 
in  this  way  best  attains  to  an  equal  fulness.  It 
is  self-evident  also  that  the  teaching  should  be 
such  that  the  transitions  of  the  registers  should 
be  not  at  all  or  scarcely  perceptible,  consequently 
that  all  the  tones  should  sound  proportionally 
strong  and  full. 

In  the  soprano  voice  the  falsetto,  and  in  the 
contralto  voice  the  chest  register,  have  more  fill- 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  79 

ness  and  grace,  and  thus  we  may  distinguish  to 
which  kind  of  voice  a  voice  belongs,  for  the  com- 
pass of  the  voice  is  not  always  confined  within 
certain  limits.  There  are  contraltos  that  can 
sing  the  high  head  tones  with  ease,  and  sopranos 
that  can  sing  the  low  chest  tones  with  equal 
facility — a  fact  which  has  often  given  occasion 
to  an  incorrect  treatment  of  a  voice.  So  also 
with  the  male  voice.  A  bass  voice  sings  the 
lower  series  of  the  chest  register  with  more 
ease  and  sweetness  and  with  more  obscure  tim- 
bre. A  tenor  voice  sings  the  second  series  of 
the  chest  register  in  a  clearer  timbre. 

The  baritone  and  mezzo-soprano  voices,  so 
called — that  is,  such  voices  as  have  a  limited 
compass,  and  cannot  sing  either  the  highest  or 
the  lowest  tones — are  by  no  means  so  numerous 
as  they  are  thought  to  be.  The  best  tenor  voices, 
which  cannot  naturally  reach  the  lowest  bass 
tones,  and  whose  organs  do  not  allow  of  an  un- 
natural forcing  up  beyond  the  higher  limits  of 
the  chest  register,  are  commonly  pronounced 
baritone  voices,  for  no  one  now-a-days  thinks  of 
cultivating  the  falsetto  register  of  the  male  voice. 

Few  teachers,  likewise,  understand  how  to 
teach   correctly  the  tones  of  the   head  register 


80  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

[f  a  soprano  voice  cannot  readily  and  agreeably 
sing  the  low  contralto  tones,  and  extend  the  fal- 
setto scale  far  enough  upwards  beyond  its  limit, 
it  is  reckoned  among  the  mezzo-soprano  voices. 
The  celebrated  singing  master  ThomaseUi,  of 
Padua,  maintained  that  baritone  and  mezzo- 
soprano  voices  "  had  no  existence  in  nature,  but 
were  only  the  products  of  our  false  methods  of 
instruction." 

I  have  sometimes  found  mezzo-soprano  and 
baritone  voices,  but  not  in  so  great  number  by 
far  as  the  four  chief  kinds  of  voices — bass,  tenor, 
contralto,  and  soprano. 

Although  an  exact  knowledge  of  the  vocal 
organ  and  its  various  actions  must  be  required 
of  a  teacher  before  the  education  of  a  voice  can 
be  committed  to  him,  yet  it  would  be  unwise  to 
undertake  to  teach  singing  by  means  of  scientific 
explanations  without  sufficient  previous  know- 
ledge ;  the  pupil  would,  in  this  case,  understand 
as  little  of  what  he  was  about  and  be  as  little 
helped  as  a  child  learning  to  read  would  be 
assisted  by  one  who  merely  sought  to  make 
intelligible  to  him  the  mechanism  by  which 
sound  is  formed.  The  most  natural  and  the 
simplest  way  in  singing,  as  in  all  things  else,  is 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  81 

the  best.  Let  the  teacher  sing  correctly  every 
tone  to  his  pupil  until  the  latter  knows  how 
to  imitate  it,  and  his  ear  has  learned  how  to 
distinguish  the  different  timbres.* 

The  discovery  of  the  natural  transitions  of  the 
registers  has  brought  to  light  one  of  the  greatest 
evils  of  our  present  mode  of  singing,  and  shown 
at  the  same  time  how  wanting  in  durability  are 
the  voices  of  those  of  our  artists  whose  aim  and 
endeavor  it  is  to  force  the  registers  upward  be- 
yond their  natural  limits.  Although  the  concert 
pitch  is  so  very  much  higher  now  than  it  was 
in  the  most  flourishing  period  of  the  singing  art, 
yet  no  regard  is  paid  to  this  fact  in  the  education 
of  a  voice,  and  our  tenorists  try  to  reach  the  a 

*  On  this  account  the  male  voice  should  be  trained  by 
men  and  the  female  voice  by  women.  For,  as  it  is  impossible 
for  a  man  to  give  to  a  female  pupil  a  correct  perception  of 
the  tones  of  the  head  register  and  of  the  second  series  of  the 
falsetto,  with  its  peculiar  female  timbre,  so  is  it  impossible 
for  a  woman  to  sing  and  teach  correctly  the  deep,  sonorous 
chest  tones  of  the  male  voice.  Frederick  Wiek,  that  admira- 
ble teacher,  who  perceives  intuitively  what  is  natural  and 
true  in  instruction,  has  an  excellent  expedient.  In  his  hours 
of  instruction  he  avails  himself  of  the  aid  of  young  women 
with  practised  voices,  who  sing  every  exercise  to  his  female 
pupils  until  the  latter  are  able  to  imitate  them  correctly. 


82  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


with  the  chest  register,  just  as  they 


did  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

In  the  ignorance  existing  concerning  the  na- 
tural transitions  of  the  registers,  and  in  the  un- 
natural forcing  of  the  voice,  is  found  a  chief 
vause  of  the  decline  of  the  art  of  singing.  And 
the  present  inability  to  preserve  the  voice  is  the 
consequence  of  a  method  of  teaching  unnatural, 
and  therefore  imposing  too  great  a  strain  upon 
tlie  voice.* 

No  one  who  has  not  made  the  art  of  singing 
a  special  study,  can  form  any  idea  of  the  ob- 
scure and  conflicting  views  in  regard  to  the 
transition's  of  the  registers  which  prevail,  among 
singing  teachers  and  artists.  Almost  every 
teacher  has  a  peculiar  theory  of  his  own  in  re- 
gard to  the  formation  of  the  voice;  every  one 
has  his  own  views,  sometimes  extremely  fanciful, 

*  Vdices  which  by  this  overstrained  and  unnatural  way  of 
singing  have  become  worn-out  and  useless  may  by  correct, 
proper  treatment  recover,  even  at  an  advanced  age,  their 
former  grace  and  power  ;  and  even  those  chronic  inflamma- 
tions of  the  larynx  which  are  so  difficult  of  treatment  may 
be  cured  by  a  natural  and  moderate  exercise  of  the  voice  in 
singing. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  83 

of  the  formation  of  tones  and  of  the  registers — 
views  to  which  he  tenaciously  adheres,  summa- 
rily rejecting  all  others.  Almost  as  at  the  build- 
ing of  the  tower  of  Babel,  one  teacher  scarcely 
understands  any  longer  what  another  means, 
and  instead  of  harmonious  endeavors  to  improve 
the  art,  teachers  of  singing  are  commonly  found 
disputing  among  themselves. 

To  bring  light  and  order  into  such  a  chaos 
can  only  be  accomplished  by  the  most  thorough 
scientific  study,  and  even  then  it  is  an  under- 
taking of  the  greatest  difficulty.  Custom  stands 
in  the  way  as  an  antagonist,  and  there  must  be 
a  conflict  with  long-cherished  and  wide-spread 
errors  and  prejudices.  It  lies  also  in  the  nature 
of  the  case  that  teachers  of  singing  are  the  most 
determined  opponents  to  be  encountered.  It  is 
very  hard  for  this  class,  and  it  demands  of  them 
no  common  self-denial  to  acknowledge  and  re- 
nounce as  errors  what  they  have  taught  for 
years  and  held  to  be  truths.  Those  teachers, 
however,  who  have  made  the  necessary  sacrifice, 
have  been  compensated  with  the  richest  success ; 
and  such,  we  trust,  will  in  all  cases  be  the  result, 
and  so  the  path  be  broken  for  the  true  and  the 
natural. 


84  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

It  will  be  perhaps  comparatively  easy  to  ad- 
vance the  art  of  singing  in  America;  for,  as 
Humboldt  says,  not  entirely  without  truth,  the 
Germans  require  for  every  improvement  two 
centuries — one  to  find  out  the  need  of  it,  <md 
another  to  make  it. 


Ill 

PHYSICAL    VIEW 

FORMATION   OF   SOUNDS   BY   THE   VOCAL   ORGAN 

fOll  the  artistic  culture  of  the  singing  voice 
the  knowledge  of  the  physiological  processes 
during  the  formation  of  tones  does  not  suffice. 
This  knowledge  brings  us  acquainted  only  with 
the  instrument,  the  artistic  treatment  of  which 
is  to  be  learned.  Having,  therefore,  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages  stated  the  most  important  points  in 
the  formation  of  tones,  physiologically  considered, 
we  are  now  to  consider  more  nearly  the  physical 
laws  relating  to  the  same,  especially  as  the  phy- 
sical view  of  the  subject,  through  the  latest 
investigations  and  discoveries  of  Prof.  Helm- 
holtz,  in  Heidelberg,  has  so  much  import- 
ance for  music  in  general.  In  order,  however, 
to  present  a  clear  view  of  this  branch  of  our 
subject,  in  so  far  as  the  recent  advances  of 
science  can  be  practically  applied  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  art  of  singing,  we  must 
8  85 


86  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

recur  to    those  natural   laws  which  are   doubt- 
less well  known  to  most  of  our  readers. 

In  order  to  bring  the  external  world  to  our 
consciousness,  we  are  provided  with  various 
organs  of  sense;  and  as  the  eye  is  sensible  to 
the  light,  the  ear  is  sensible  to  sound,  which 
comes  to  our  consciousness  either  as  noise  (Ge- 
rdusch)  or  as  tone  (Klang).  The  whistling  of 
the  wind,  the  plashing  of  water,  the  rattling 
of  a  wagon  are  noises,  but  musical  instru- 
ments give  us  tones.  When,  however,  many 
untuned  instruments  sound  together,  or  when 
all  the  keys  within  an  octave  are  struck  on  the 
same  time,  then  it  is  a  noise  that  we  hear. 
Tones  are  therefore  more  simple  and  regular 
than  noises.  The  ear  perceives  both  by  means 
of  the  agitation  of  the  air  that  surrounds 
us.  In  the  case  of  noise  the  agitation  of  the 
air  is  an  irregularly  changing  motion.  In  musi- 
cal sounds,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  move- 
ment of  the  air  in  a  continuously  regular  manner, 
which  must  be  caused  by  a  similar  movement 
in  the  body  which  gives  the  sound.  These  so- 
called  periodical  movements  of  the  sound  in  the 
body,  rising,  falling  and  repeated  at  equal  inter- 
vals, are  called  vibrations.     The  length  of  the 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  87 

nterval  elapsing  between  one  movement  and 
the  next  succeeding  repetition  of  the  same  move- 
ment is  called  the  duration  of  vibration  (Schwing- 
ungsdauer),  or  period  of  motion. 


TONE,  AND   ITS   LAWS   OF   VIBRATION 

A  tone  is  produced  by  a  periodical  motion  of  the 
sounding  body — a  noise  by  motions  not  periodi- 
cal. We  can  see  and  feel  the  sounding  vibra- 
tions of  stationary  bodies.  The  eye  can  perceive 
the  vibrations  of  a  string,  and  a  person  playing 
on  a  clarionet,  oboe,  or  any  similar  instrument, 
feels  the  vibration  of  the  reed  of  the  mouth- 
piece. How  the  movements  of  the  air,  agitated 
by  the  vibrations  of  the  stationary  body,  are  felt 
by  the  ear  as  tone  (Klang),  Helmholtz  illus- 
trates by  the  motion  of  waves  of  water  in  the 
following  way :  Imagine  a  stone  thrown  into  per- 
fectly smooth  water.  Around  the  point  of  the 
surface  struck  by  the  stone  there  is  instantly 
formed  a  little  ring,  which,  moving  outwards 
equally  in  all  directions,  spreads  to  an  ever-en- 
larging circle.  Corresponding  to  this  ring,  sound 
goes  out  in  the  air  from  an  agitated  point,  and 
enlarges  in  •  all  directions  as  far  as  the  limits  of 


88  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  atmosphere  permit.  What  goes  on  in  the 
air  is  essentially  the  same  that  takes  place  on 
the  surface  of  the  water ;  the  chief  difference  only 
is  that  sound  spreads  out  in  the  spacious  sea  of 
air  like  a  sphere,  while  the  waves  on  the  surface 
of  the  water  can  extend  only  like  a  circle.  At 
the  surface  the  mass  of  the  water  is  free  to  rise 
upward,  where  it  is  compressed  and  forms  bil- 
lows, or  crests.  In  the  interior  of  the  aerial 
ocean  the  air  must  be  condensed,  because  it  can- 
not rise.  For,  "  in  fact,  the  condensation  of  the 
sound-wave  corresponds  to  the  crest,  while  the 
rarefaction  of  the  sound-wave  corresponds  to 
the  sinus  of  the  water-wave."* 

The  water-waves  press  continually  onwards 
into  the  distance,  but  the  particles  of  the  water 
move  to  and  fro  periodically  within  narrow 
limits.  One  may  easily  see  these  two  move- 
ments by  observing  a  small  piece  of  wood  float- 
ing on  water ;  the  wood  moves  just  as  the  parti- 
cles of  water  in  contact  with  it  move.  It  is  not 
carried  along  with  the  rings  of  the  wave,  but  is 
tossed  up  and  down,  and  at  last  remains  in  the 
same  place  where  it  was  at  the  first.  In  a  similar 
way,  as  the  particles  of  water  around  the  wood 

*TVndalL 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  89 

are  moved  by  the  ring  only  in  passing,  so  the 
waves  of  sound  spread  onwards  through  new 
strata  of  air,  while  the  particles  of  air,  tossed  to 
and  fro  by  these  waves  as  they  pass,  are  never 
really  moved  by  them  from  their  first  place.  A 
drop  falling  upon  the  surface  of  the  water 
creates  in  it  only  a  single  agitation ;  but  when  a 
regular  series  of  drops  falls  upon  it,  every  drop 
produces  a  ring  on  the  water.  Every  ring  passes 
over  the  surface  just  like  its  predecessor,  and  is 
followed  by  other  rings  in  the  same  way.  In 
this  way  there  is  produced  on  the  water  a  regu- 
lar series  of  rings  ever  expanding.  As  many 
drops  as  fall  into  the  water  in  a  second,  so  many 
waves  will  in  a  second  strike  a  floating  piece 
of  wood,  which  will  be  just  so  many  times  tossed 
up  and  down,  and  thus  have  a  periodical  motion, 
the  period  of  which  corresponds  with  the  inter- 
val at  which  the  drops  fall.  In  like  manner  a 
sounding  body,  periodically  moved,  produces  a 
similar  periodic  movement,  first  of  the  air,  and 
then  of  the  drum  in  the  ear ;  the  duration  of  the 
vibrations  constituting  the  movement  must  be 
the  same  in  the  ear  as  in  the  sounding  body. 

8* 


90  THE  VOICE  IN  SINGING 

THE   PROPERTIES   OF   TONE  (KLANG) 

The  sounds  produced  by  such  periodic  agita- 
tions of  the  air  have  three  peculiar  properties : 
1.  Strength,  2.  Pitch,  3.  Timbre. 

The  strength  of  the  tone  depends  on  the 
greater  or  less  breadth  of  its  vibrations,  that  is, 
of  the  waves  of  sound,  the  higher  or  lower 
pitch  of  the  tones  upon  the  number  of  the  vibra- 
tions; that  is,  the  tones  are  always  higher  the 
greater  the  number  of  the  vibrations,  or  lower 
the  less  the  number  of  the  vibrations.  A  second 
is  used  as  the  unit  of  time,  and  by  number  of 
vibrations  is  understood  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions which  the  sounding  body  gives  forth  in  a 
second  of  time.  The  tones  used  in  music  lie 
between  40  and  4000  vibrations  per  second,  in 
the  extent  of  seven  octaves.  The  tones  which 
we  can  perceive  lie  between  16  and  38,000  vibra- 
tions to  the  second,  within  the  compass  of  eleven 
octaves.     The  later  pianos  usually  go  as  low  as 

C1  with  33,  or  even  to  A11  with  27§  vibrations ; 
mostly  as  high  as  aIV  or  cv,  with  3520  and 
4224  vibrations.  The  one  lined  a,  from  which 
all  instruments  are  tuned,  has  now  usually  440  to 
450  vibrations   to   the  second  in   England  and 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  91 

America.  The  French  Academy,  however,  has 
recently  established  for  the  same  note  435  vibra- 
tions, and  this  lower  tuning  has  already  been 
universally  introduced  in  Germany.* 

The  high  octave  of  a  tone  has  in  the  same 
time  exactly  double  the  number  of  vibrations  of 
the  tone  itself.  Suppose,  therefore,  that  a  tone 
has  50  vibrations  in  a  second,  its  octave  has  100 
in  the  same  time;  i.  e.,  twice  as  many.  The 
octave  above  this  has  200  vibrations,  &c.  The 
Pythagoreans  knew  this  acoustic  law  of  the 
ascending  tones,  and  that  the  octave  of  a  tone 
had  twice  as  many  vibrations  in  a  second  as  the 
tone  itself,  and  that  the  fifth  above  the  first  octave 
had  three  times  as  many ;  the  second  octave,  four 
times;  the  major  third  above  the  second  octave, 
five  times  as  many ;  the  fifth  of  the  same  octave, 

*  The  concert  pitch  in  different  places  and  at  different 
periods  has  undergone  great  changes.  The  Grand  Opera  in 
Paris  in  the  year  1700  established  404  vibrations  to  a  second 
as  the  concert  pitch  of  a,  which  gradually  rose  higher,  as  the 
wind  instruments  became  more  perfect  and  had  a  more  im- 
portant part  assigned  them  in  concerted  music,  until  185S  it 
had  attained  the  height  of  448  vibrations  in  a  second.  In 
this  same  year  (1858)  at  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg  it  reached 
its  greatest  height — 451 J  vibrations  in  the  second.  In  Mozart's 
time,  in  Vienna,  it  had  only  422  and  428  vibrations. 


92  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

six  times ;  the  small  seventh  of  the  same  octave, 
seven  times.  In  notation  it  would  be  thus,  if 
we  take  as  the  lowest  note  C,  for  example : 

I     8va. 


^:23        4«J5         6        7        8916       32 

1 

The  figures  below  the  lines  denote  how  many 
times  greater  the  number  of  vibrations  is  than 
that  of  the  first  tone.  In  the  first  octave  we  find 
only  one  tone ;  in  the  second,  two ;  in  the  third, 
all  the  tones  of  the  major  chord  with  the  minor 
seventh.  In  the  fourth  octave  we  find  sixteen 
tones  (which,  however,  we  divide  in  our  system 
of  music  into  twelve).  Likewise,  we  find  in  the 
fifth  octave  thirty-two  tones,  which  number  is 
doubled  in  the  sixth.  Hence,  the  Greeks  had 
quarter  and  eighth  tones,  which  we  in  our  equal- 
tempered  tuning  have  done  away  with.* 

The  production  of  a  higher  pitch  in  a  tone 
rests  in  all  sounding  bodies  upon  the  uniform 
law  which  we  may  observe   in   the  strings  of 

*  As  long  as  melody  alone  was  aimed  at  in  music,  and  was 
accompanied  only  by  octaves,  the  tones  preserved  their  nat- 
ural purity.  But  with  the  rise  of  harmony  (the  accord  of 
different  tones)  there  was  rendered  necessary  a  more  regular 
system,  to  which  the  purity  of  the  tones  was  sacrificed. 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  93 

musical  instruments,  whose  tones  ascend  either 
by  greater  tension,  by  shortening,  or  through  a 
diminution  of  the  density  of  the  strings. 

THE  TIMBRE  (KLANGFARBE)  OF   TONES 

Strength  and  pitch  were  the  first  two  distinc- 
tions of  different  tones.  The  third  is  the  timbre. 
When  we  hear  one  and  the  same  tone  sounded 
successively  upon  a  violin,  trumpet,  clarionet, 
oboe,  upon  a  piano,  or  by  a  human  voice,  &c, 
although  it  is  of  the  same  strength  and  of  the 
same  pitch,  yet  the  tone  of  all  these  instruments 
is  different,  and  we  very  easily  distinguish  the 
instrument  from  which  it  comes.  The  changes 
of  the  timbre  seem  to  be  infinitely  manifold ; 
for,  not  to  mention  the  fact  that  we  have  a  mul- 
titude of  different  musical  instruments,  all  which 
can  give  the  same  tone,  letting  alone  also  that 
different  instruments  of  the  same  kind  as  well  as 
different  voices  show  certain  differences  of  tim- 
bre, the  very  same  tone  can  be  given  upon  one 
and  the  same  instrument,  or  by  one  and  the  same 
voice,  with  manifold  differences  of  timbre.* 

*  "  It  is  not  possible  to  sound  a  stretched  string  as  a  whole 
without  at  the  same  time  causing  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
its  subdivision ;  that  is  to  say,  superposed  upon  the  vibrations 


94  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

As  now  the  strength  of  the  tone  is  determined 
by  the  breadth  of  the  vibrations,  and  the  pitch 
by  their  number,  so  the  varieties  of  timbre  are 
ascribed  to  the  different  forms  of  the  waves  of 

of  the  string  we  have  always,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  the 
vibrations  of  its  aliquot  parts.  The  higher  notes  produced 
by  these  latter  vibrations  are  called  the  harmonics  of  the 
string.  And  so  it  is  with  other  sounding  bodies ;  we  have, 
in  all  cases,  a  co-existence  of  vibrations.  Higher  tones  min- 
gle with  the  fundamental  tone,  and  it  is  their  intermixture 
which  determines  what,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  we  call 
the  quality  of  the  sound.  The  French  call  it  timbre,  and  the 
Germans  call  it  Klangfarbe.  It  is  this  union  of  high  and  low 
tones  that  enables  us  to  distinguish  one  musical  instrument 
from  another.  A  clarionet  and  a  violin,  for  example,  though 
tuned  to  the  same  fundamental  note,  are  not  confounded.  *  *  * 
"  All  bodies  and  instruments,  then,  employed  for  producing 
musical  sounds,  emit,  besides  their  fundamental  tones,  tone? 
due  to  higher  order  of  vibrations.  The  Germans  embrace  all 
such  sounds  under  the  general  term  Obertone.  I  think  it  will 
be  an  advantage  if  we,  in  England,  adopt  the  term  over-tones, 
as  the  equivalent  of  the  term  employed  in  Germany.  One 
has  occasion  to  envy  the  power  of  the  German  language  to 
adapt  itself  to  requirements  of  this  nature.  The  term  Klang- 
farbe, for  example,  employed  by  Helmholtz,  is  exceedingly 
expressive,  and  we  need  its  equivalent  also.  You  know  that 
color  depends  upon  rapidity  of  vibrations — that  blue  light 
bears  to  red  the  same  relation  that  a  high  tone  does  to  a 
low  one.  A  simple  color  has  but  one  rate  of  vibration,  and 
it  may  be  regarded  as  the  analogue  of  a  simple  tone  in  music. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  95 

vibration.  For  as  the  surface  of  the  water  is 
stirred  differently  by  the  falling  into  it  of  a  stone, 
by  the  blowing  over  it  of  the  wind,  or  the  pass- 
ing through  it  of  a  ship,  &c,  so  the  movements 
of  the  air  take  different  shapes  from  sounding 
bodies.  The  movement  proceeding  from  the 
string  of  a  violin  over  which  the  bow  is  drawn, 
is  different  from  those  movements  caused  by  the 
hammer  of  a  piano  or  by  a  clarionet. 

OVEE-TOXES  (OBERTOKE) 

That  timbre  is  dependent  on  the  form  of  the 
vibrations  is  confirmed  by  Helmholtz,  and  ac- 

A  tone,  then,  may  be  defined  as  the  product  of  a  vibration 
which  cannot  be  decomposed  into  more  simple  ones.  A  com- 
pound color,  on  the  contrary,  is  produced  by  the  admixture 
of  two  or  more  simple  ones ;  and  an  assemblage  of  tones,  such 
as  we  obtain  when  the  fundamental  tone  and  the  harmonics 
of  a  string  sound  together,  is  called  by  the  Germans  a  Klang. 
May  we  not  employ  the  English  word  clang  to  denote  the 
same  thing,  and  thus  give  the  term  a  precise  scientific  meaning 
akin  to  its  popular  one?  And  may  we  not,  like  Helmholtz, 
add  the  word  color  or  tint  to  denote  the  character  of  the  clang, 
using  the  term  clang-tint  as  the  equivalent  of  Klangfarbef 
(Sound :  A  course  of  Lectures  delivered  at  the  Royal  Institution 
of  Great  Britain  by  John  Tyndall,  LL.D.,  F.  R.  S.,  Professor 
of  Nat.  Phil,  in  the  Royal  Institution  and  in  the  Royal  School 
of  Mines.    English  edition,  pp.  116-118.) — Tr. 


96  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

know]  edged  as  so  far  correct  that  every  different 
timbre  requires  a  different  vibratory  form,  but 
different  forms  sometimes  correspond  to  nearly 
the  same  timbre.  But  how  far  the  different  forms 
of  vibration  correspond  with  different  timbres, 
Helmholtz  shows  by  a  fact  which  has  hitherto 
escaped  the  notice  of  physicists,  although  it  forms 
the  foundation  of  all  music.  We  have  learned 
by  the  stereoscope  that  we  have  two  different 
views  of  every  object,  and  compose  a  third  view 
from  those  two.  Just  so  the  ear  perceives  different 
musical  tones  which  come  to  our  consciousness  only 
as  one  tone. 

It  is  in  general,  and  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
human  voice,  very  difficult  to  distinguish  these 
single  parts  of  tone,  because  we  are  accustomed 
to  take  the  impressions  of  the  external  world 
without  analyzing  them,  and  only  with  a  view  to 
their  use. 

But  when  we  are  once  convinced  of  the  exist- 
ence of  partial  tones  (Partialtone),  if  we  concen- 
trate our  attention,  we  can  also  distinguish  them. 
The  ear  hears,  then,  not  only  that  tone,  the  pitch 
of  which  is  determined,  as  we  have  shown,  by  the 
duration  of  its  vibrations,  but  a  whole  series  of 
tones    besides,    which    Helmholtz    names    "the 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  97 

harmonic  over-tones"  of  the  tone,  in  opposition  to 
that  first  tone  (fundamental  tone)  which  is  the 
lowest  among  them  all,  generally  the  strongest 
also,  and  according  to  the  pitch  of  which  we 
decide  the  pitch  of  the  tone.  The  series  of  these 
over-tones  is  for  each  musical  tone  precisely 
the  same;  they  are,  namely,  the  tones  of  the 
so-called  acoustic  series,  arising,  as  already  de- 
scribed, from  the  doubling  of  the  vibrations. 
First,  the  fundamental  tone,  then  its  octave  with 
twice  as  many  vibrations,  then  the  fifth  of  this 
octave,  &c. 

The  different  timbre  of  tones  thus  depends 
upon  the  different  forms  of  the  vibrations,  whence 
arise  various  relations  of  the  fundamental  tone  to 
the  over-tones  as  they  vary  in  strength.  The 
most  thorough  inquiries  have  led  to  the  follow- 
ing results,  of  the  first  importance  in  every 
formation  of  tone :  that  the  appropriate  form  of 
the  vibratory  waves  which  is  the  most  agreeable  to 
the  ear,  as  well  as  the  fullest,  softest  and  most  beau- 
tiful timbre  ichich  cwresponds  to  that  form,  is  pro- 
duced when  the  fundamental  tone,  and  the  over-tones 
following  it,  so  sound  that  the  fundamental  tone 
and  the  over-tones  sound  together,  the  former  most 

strongly,  while   the  lattefr  are  heard  fainter   and 

E 


98  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


> 


fainter  in  the  intervals  of  the  major  chord  with  the 
minor  seventh,  so  that,  with  the  fundamental  tone, 
still  further  sound  seven  over-tones.  If  the  higher 
harmonic  over-tones  grow  stronger,  and  even  over- 
power the  fundamental  tone,  the  sound  grows 
shriller,  but  when  the  discordant  over-tones  lying 
close  together,  higher  than  the  tones  just  named, 
overpower  the  fundamental  tone,  the  timbre  be- 
comes sharp  and  disagreeable. 

But  these  over-tones  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  earlier  known  combination-tones  -( Com- 
binationstb'ne),  which  arise  from  the  sounding 
together  of  two  consonant  intervals,  and  likewise 
have  their  own  over-tones. 

Prof.  Helmholtz  has  by  means  of  his  Reso- 
nance and  Electrical  apparatus  invented  aids  by 
which  the  forms  of  the  vibrations  can  be  per- 
ceived as  well  as  the  over-tones,  and  the  different 
degrees  of  strength  of  the  latter  in  relation  to  one 
another  and  to  the  fundamental  tone  can  be  ex- 
actly measured.  In  attempting  by  means  of  the 
above-mentioned  apparatus  to  cause  the  several 
over-tones  to  sound  more  or  less  strongly  with 
the  fundamental  tone,  and  again  entirely  to  veil 
others,  it   became   possible  to  Prof.   Helmholtz 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  99 

to  produce  artificially  most  opposite  timbres,  as 
well  as  all  the  vowels  of  speech. 

Even  when,  in  the  culture  of  a  voice,  we  have 
advanced  so  far  that  none  of  the  inharmonic  but 
only  the  harmonic  over-tones  sound  with  the  fun- 
damental tone,  we  shall  always  find  that  every 
voice  has  its  own  peculiar  Klangfarbe — i.  e.,  its 
own  characteristic  timbre ;  and  it  is  not  possible  so 
to  form  the  tones  of  a  voice  that  the  over-tones 
sounding  with  them  shall  diminish  proportionally 
according  to  their  height.  Every  voice  has  one, 
mostly  two,  over-tones,  which  always  predominate 
in  every  tone,  every  register,  and  give  the  voice 
its  peculiar  quality.  When,  with  the  first  octave, 
the  fifth  above  it  sounds,  the  voice  is  full  and 
mellow.  A  clear,  sympathetic,  silvery  ring  is 
produced  by  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  with  the 
octave  immediately  above  it.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  timbres  is  a  result  of  the  prominence 
of  the  third  with  the  seventh,  etc.  This  pecu- 
liarity appears  to  be  connected  with  the  particu- 
lar form  and  structure  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth. 
That  parts  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  serve  as  a 
sounding-board  in  the  formation  of  sound,  has 
already  been  mentioned.* 

*  As  to  the  characteristic  sounds  of  the  different  keys, 


100  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

The  perfection  of  a  tone  at  a  certain  pitch  de- 
pends, in  the  resonance  of  the  cavity  of  the 
mouth,  upon  the  utterance  of  some  vowel,  to 
which  the  parts  of  the  mouth  are  adjusted;  and 
this  perfection  is  considerably  affected  by  even  a 
slight  variation  in  the  timbre  of  the  vowel,  as  il 
occurs  in  different  dialects  of  the  same  language. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  peculiar  tones  of  the 
cavity  of  the  mouth  are  almost  wholly  independ- 
ent of  age  and  sex.  The  peculiar  pitch  of  the 
resonance  apparatus  has  also  an  influence  upon 

the  views  of  musicians  are  to  the  present  day  divided.  Many 
even  of  our  most  eminent  theorists,  as  Hauptmann,  for  ex- 
ample, in  Leipsig,  have  maintained  that  all  keys  (Tonarten) 
are  only  transpositions  of  one  major  and  minor  key,  and 
that  like  musical  effects  may  be  produced  with  one  as  well 
as  with  the  other.  The  majority  of  musicians  are,  however, 
of  the  opinion  that  each  key  has  its  peculiar  character,  and 
that  by  transposition  into  another  key  the  musical  effect  is 
changed.  My  son,  Carl  Seiler,  has  discovered  that  each 
key  has  its  own  peculiar,  prominent  over-tones,  which  de- 
termine its  distinctive  character.  A  table  of  all  the  keys 
{Tonarten),  in  which  the  prominent  over-tones  of  each  are 
given,  shows  also  that  the  mutual  relation  of  the  keys  (Ton- 
arten) is  elucidated  by  these  over-tones.  And  thus  again  sci 
entitle  investigation  confirms  what  the  founders  of  the  theory 
of  music,  with  their  sound  sense  for  the  beautiful,  recog- 
nized as  correct. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  101 

the  tone.  Every  one  who  knows  how  to  play  on 
any  instrument  knows  that  some  of  its  tones 
sound  sweeter  and  are  more  easily  given  than 
others ;  these  are  the  tones  in  which  the  peculiar 
tone  of  the  instrument  and  its  over-tones  sound 
together.  To  describe  more  particularly  the  na- 
tural laws  upon  which  these  facts  rest  would 
lead  us  too  far  away  from  our  present  purpose. 

THE   VOWELS 

Every  tone  in  singing  usually  takes  the  sound 
of  some  vowel.  By  the  greater  or  less  distinct- 
ness of  one  or  another  of  the  over-tones,  sounding 
with  the  fundamental  tone,  various  timbres  of 
the  vowel  are  produced.  But  certain  vowels  in 
certain  parts  of  the  scale  can  be  sung  far  more 
easily  and  sweetly  than  others.  The  investiga- 
tion of  this  fact  has  taught  us  that  a  tone  gains 
in  richness  when  the  tone  corresponding  to  the 
vowel  belongs  to  the  over-tones  of  the  funda- 
mental tone.  In  the  human  voice,  however,  the 
tones  favorable  to  the  several  vowels  do  not 
admit  of  being  precisely  determined. 

In  different  languages  and  dialects  the  vowels 
have  different  shades,  and  a  scarcely  perceptible 
variation,  especially  in  the  clearer  vowels,  is 
sufficient  to   ca^se  the  over-tones  to  be  heard 

9* 


102  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

more  or  less  distinctly.  After  I  had  learned, 
with  the  kind  assistance  of  Professor  Helru- 
holtz,  by  means  of  his  artificial  apparatus  for 
the  sharpening  of  the  ear,  to  find  out  over-tones 
and  to  know  their  peculiarities,  I  was  soon  able, 
without  any  artificial  help,  to  discover  the  vowels 
favorable  to  them  by  the  fuller  sound  of  certain 
tones.     In  the  female  voice  all  tones  below  the 


/u      |    I  take    the    character    of  o.      At   the 
,  a,  pronounced  as  in  the  English  word 


hall ,  sounds  the  best,  and  at  d  5  e    \/L    — ^p] 
passes  into  a,  as  in  man,  and  at  f  I  A   J  1  into  a, 


as  in  may.     With  the  g  |  ^    J— |  the  a  sounds 
again  as  in  man ;   a  b  b  b  c 


35=* 


hJ    m    * 


are 


favorable    to    all    the    vowels,   while    d    eb    e 
jj  f   l     f~|  sound  best  with  e.     After  e 


every  tone  takes  the  coloring  of  a,  as  in  father, 
and  sounds  well  only  with  this  vowel;  bb  c  d 


gE — -     E  sound  again  better  with  e.     As  thus, 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  103 


above  e  f  -/U  i      i   -  all  the  tones  take  tLe  color- 


ing of  a  in  father,  so  the  tones  below  c   /u      ■    I 


take  the  timbre  of  o,  and  the  most  skilful 
artists  are  not  able  to  sing  all  the  vowels  in 
these  tones  with  equal  clearness  and  purity. 
The  female  voice,  therefore,  has  only  a  few  tones 
more  than  an  octave,  upon  which  every  one  of 
the  vowels  can  be  distinctly  sung;  and  again, 
all  these  tones  do  not  afford  an  equally  sonorous 
tone  with  every  vowel. 

As  unfortunately  our  Song  composers  do  not 
always  keep  this  fact  in  view,  as  the  old  Italians 
did,  and  since  words  with  the  most  unfavorable 
vowels  often  underlie  the  notes,  it  as  often  be- 
comes necessary  to  mingle  with  the  unfavorable 
vowel  something  of  the  sound  (Klang)  of  the 
vowel  properly  belonging  to  the   note;   as,  for 


example,  in  the  word  "  ring"  upon  f    (fy    i     |,  to 

%)     ring 


sing  the  i  with  a  mixture  of  the  sound  (Klang)  of 
a.  Artists  do  this  in  a  way  of  which  they  are  for 
the  most  part  unconscious,  and  which  is  always 
unobserved  by  the  hearer.  That  in  every  voice 
there  are  several  tones  upon  which  every  vowe1 
sounds  well,  finds  an  explanation  in  an  observa 


104  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

tion  of  Professor  Helmholtz.     Theear  is  attuned 

to  a  certain  tone,  designated  as  e  £  To  persons 
with  very  susceptible  nerves  these  tones  are 
often  insupportable,  and  we  often  see  dogs,  whose 
sense  of  hearing  is  especially  acute,  run  howling 

away  when  the  above  e  is  struck  upon  a  violin, 
while  to  other  tones  they  seem  wholly  insensible. 
But  all  the  tones  which  are  accompanied  by  that 
tone  as  an  over-tone  to  which  the  ear  is  attuned, 
sound  harmonious  even  with  unfavorable  vowels. 

PAKTIAL   TONES 

But  beside  the  over-tones,  which  sound  with 
eVery  good,  simple  sound,  there  are  other  partial 
tones,  which,  like  the  long-known  combination 
tones,  do  not  usually  present  themselves  to  our 
consciousness.  Combination  tones  were  first  dis- 
covered in  1745  by  the  organ-builder,  Sorge. 
By  an  act  of  concentrated  attention  one  hears 
these  tones  at  the  accord  of  two  different  tones. 
They  lie  always  lower  than  the  interval  to  which 
they  belong,  and  arise  from  the  meeting  of  the 
nodes  of  vibration  of  the  tones  producing  the 
interval.  The  node  of  vibration  is  the  name  of 
that   place  where,  after  every  completed  vibra- 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  105 

tion,  -the  sounding  body  returns  to  its  former 
position.  When,  for  instance,  we  give  the  third 
c  e,  we  hear  the  c,  lying  an  octave  lower  than  the 
third,  sounding  at  the  same  time  as  a  combina- 
tion tone.  For  the  tone  c  a  string  has  two 
vibrations,  while  in  the  same  space  of  time  e 
has  three.  The  vibration  node  of  the  c  will 
thus,  after  two  vibrations,  coincide  with  the 
vibration  node  of  the  e.  By  the  coincidence  of 
these  nodes  of  vibration  is  produced  the  number 
of  vibrations  requisite  for  the  c  below.  Besides 
these  combination  tones  there  are  summation 
tones,  discovered  by  Helmholtz,  which  arise  from 
the  vibrations  collectively  (Gesammtzaht)  belong- 
ing to  the  above  interval,  and  are  higher  than 
the  interval.  Both  kinds  of  partial  tones  have 
again  their  faint  over-tones. 

BEATS   (DIE   SCHWEBUNGEN) 

We  have  explained  the  movements  of  the 
waves  of  sound  by  the  movements  on  the  sur- 
face of  water,  and  we  know  that,  instead  of  the 
billows  and  hollows  that  we  have  in  the  water, 
the  air  is  condensed  and  rarefied.  We  know 
further  that  if  two  different  lines  of  waves  run 

along  with  one  another,  their  crests  and   hollow* 

E* 


106  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

fall  together,  and  their  crests  become  as  high 
again  and  their  hollows  as  deep  again.  So  two 
tones  from  different  sources  of  sound  are  twice  as 
strong  when  they  are  both  equally  high,  and  a 
new  tone  of  the  same  height  added  to  them  will 
still  further  increase  the  sound.  But  when  two 
agitations  of  the  surface  of  the  water  so  move 
that  the  crests  of  one  fall  into  the  hollows  of  the 
other,  their  movements  neutralize  each  other. 
The  same  thing  happens  in  tones  when  one 
is  not  struck  until  half  the  vibrations  of  the 
preceding  tone  are  concluded.  But  if  the 
sounding  bodies  vary  in  only  a  small  part  of  a 
vibration  sound,  they  will  be  alternately  strongei 
and  weaker,  and  this  is  termed  beats  (Schwebun- 
gen),  which  are  only  produced  by  tones  very  near 
to  each  other.  Those  intervals  whose  combina- 
tion and  over-tones  so  fall  together  that  many 
beats  are  produced,  sound  harsh  and  disagreeable/ 
and  we  call  them  dissonances. 

Those  intervals  in  which  few  or  no  beats 
occur  are  called  consonances.  As  the  combina- 
tion or  interfering  tones,  as  well  as  the  beats, 
have  importance  and  interest  only  in  harmoniz- 
ing several  voices,  in  tuning  pianos,  as  well  as 
in   composition  in  general,  and   as  we   have  in 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  107 

view  in  these  pages  only  the  culture  of  single 
voices,  we  cannot  further  enlarge  on  these  dis- 
coveries, interesting  as  they  are.  According  to 
the  purpose  of  this  little  work,  I  introduce  only 
so  much  of  the  latest  investigations  and  discove- 
ries as  will  help  to  show  the  prevailing  evils  f 
our  mode  of  teaching  singing,  and,  by  their  prac- 
tical application  to  the  business  of  instruction, 
serve  to  improve  the  vocal  art.  But  whoever  has 
an  interest  in  this  branch  of  science  will  find  in 
the  invaluable  work  of  Helmholtz,  "Die  Lehre 
von  den  Tonempfindungen,"  an  abundance  of  most 
interesting  observations  and  of  the  most  tho- 
roughly scientific  illustrations  of  the  theory  of 
music,  and  of  those  processes  in  the  domain  of 
tone  which  we  have  hitherto  always  felt,  but 
never  understood. 

APPLICATION  OF  THE  NATURAL  LAWS  LYING 
AT  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  MUSICAL  SOUNDS 
TO  THE   CULTURE  OF  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

The  parts  of  the  human  voice  that  generate 
tones  are  the  membranous  vocal  ligaments  or 
chords,  which  are  subject  to  the  same  natural 
laws  as  all  sounding  bodies ;  of  this  we  may 
satisfy  ourselves  by  observing  the  different  regis- 


108  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

ters  of  the  voice  by  means  of  the  laryngoscope. 
The  lower,  stronger  tones  of  both  series  of  the 
chest  register  show  the  ligaments  in  full  vibra- 
tion, and  becoming  more  strongly  stretched  with 
every  higher  tone.  In  the  second  series  the 
glottis  appears,  by  the  inaction  of  the  arytenoid 
cartilages,  to  be  shortened.  In  the  falsetto  re- 
gister the  vibrating  body  is  diminished,  as  only 
the  edges  vibrate,  while  the  same  processes  are 
repeated  as  in  the  chest  register  by  the  greater 
stretching  of  the  ligaments  and  the  shorten- 
ing of  the  glottis.  The  head  register,  likewise, 
shows  the  glottis  partly  closed,  and  the  vibrat- 
ing ligaments  gradually  stretched  more  and  more. 

The  vocal  ligaments  are  made  to  vibrate  by 
the  air  coming  from  the  lungs  through  the 
treachea,  to  which  they  present  resistance.  These 
vibrations  are  communicated  to  the  air  in  the 
mouth  and  outside,  and  are  felt  by  the  ear  as 
sound. 

As  the  strength  of  the  tone  depends  upon  the 
amplitude  of  the  waves  of  sound,  they,  in  their 
turn,  depend  upon  the  structure  of  the  organ 
of  singing,  and  of  the  parts  of  the  mouth  serv- 
ing as  a  sounding-board  or  resonant  apparatus, 
but,  above  all,  upon  the  skilful  management  of 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  109 

the  vibrating  air.  And  although  a  fine  timbre 
of  the  tones  and  due  skill  in  increasing  the  ampli- 
tude of  the  vibrations  may  cause  the  voice  to  ap- 
pear fuller  and  stronger,  yet  it  is  not  in  our  power, 
when  once  the  vocal  organs  have  been  fully  de- 
veloped, tD  make  a  strong  voice  out  of  a  weak 
one. 

Always  to  strike  the  true  pitch  fully  and 
clearly  requires  persevering  attention,  as  well 
from  the  teacher  as  from  the  pupil.  And  long 
practice  is  often  required  before  the  intonations 
become  as  pure  as  is  indispensably  necessary  to 
good  singing.  For  only  upon  the  basis  of  a  full, 
pure  tone  is  a  beautiful  timbre  (Klangfarbe)  pos- 
sible. 

But  the  most  important  thing  in  the  culture 
of  the  voice  is  the  timbre  of  the  tones,  for  here 
it  is  in  our  power  to  form  out  of  a  sharp,  hard  and 
disagreeable  voice,  a  voice  sweet  and  pleasing. 

We  have  seen  that  the  timbre  is  dependent  on 
the  forms  of  the  vibrating  waves,  and  the  differ- 
ent degrees  of  strength  and  number  of  the  over- 
tones arising  from  these  forms.  It  has  been 
further  shown  that  the  simple  round  form  of  the 
waves  of  vibration  produces  the  softest,  fullest 

timbre.     By  this  fcrm  the  fundamental  tone  is 
10 


110  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  strongest,  and  the  over-tones  are  heard  as- 
cending to  the  third  octave  with  decreasing  de- 
grees of  strength.  Such  a  tone  is  natural  to  cer- 
tain voices.  In  most  cases  it  must  be  more  or 
less  acquired. 

A  good  tone  in  singing  is  formed, 

1.  By  controlling  and  correctly  dividing  the 
air  or  breath  as  it  is  expired ; 

2.  By  a  correct  direction  of  the  vibrating 
column  of  air ;  this  is  done  by  the  right  touch 
(Tonansatz) ; 

And,  3.  By  a  very  distinct,  quick  and  elastic 
touch. 

THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  BREATH 

By  a  too  great  pressure  of  the  breath,  the  form 
of  the  waves  of  sound  most  favorable  to  a  good 
tone  is  disturbed.  One  then  hears  the  high 
over-tones  sounding  strongly  up  to  the  sixteenth, 
while  the  lower  over-tones  with  the  fundamental 
tone  sound  weak  or  not  at  all.  Thus  the  tone 
takes  a  shrill,  sharp  and  disagreeable  sound 
when  the  form  of  the  vibrating  waves  is  more 
or  less  disturbed  by  too  great  a  pressure  of  air. 
Too  little  breath  deprives  the  tone  only  of  its 
strength,  but  not  of  its  agreeable  sound. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  HI 

Thus  every  tone  requires  for  its  greatest  possible, 
perfection  only  a  certain  quantity  of  breath,  which 
cannot  be  increased  or  diminished  without  injury  to 
its  strength  in  the  one  case,  and  its  agreeable  sound 
in  the  other. 

In  looking  carefully  through  the  histories  of 
music,  and  studying  the  old  Italian  schools,  we 
find  that  it  was  upon  this  point — the  control  and 
right  division  of  the  breathing — that  the  old  mas- 
ters in  the  summer  of  song  laid  the  greatest 
stress,  and  this  it  was  to  which  in  teaching  they 
gave  the  most  time  and  labor.  The  rules  which 
they  followed  in  this  respect,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  fine  tone,  accord  perfectly  with  the  results  of 
the  latest  scientific  investigations.  And  it  would 
be  far  better  for  the  art  of  singing  if  in  this 
respect  we  had  followed  the  old  Italians  more 
faithfully,  and  not  have  forsaken  so  entirely  the 
right  way. 

According  to  the  old  Italian  method,  which 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  modern,  the 
pupil  was  required  at  first  to  breathe  just  as 
he  was  wont  to  breathe  in  speaking,  and  care 
was  taken,  by  frequent  resting-points  in  the  ex- 
ercises, that  the  breath  should  always  be  renewed 
at  the  right  time.     Accordingly,  if  the  crowding, 


1 12  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

or  pressure,  of  his  breathing  was  too  great,  he 
was  required  to  learn  to  hold  it  back.  Until 
the  organs  were  sufficiently  practised  in  the  for- 
mation of  a  good  tone,  and  the  ear  had  become 
familiarized  to  its  sound,  pupils  were  allowed 
to  sing  only  piano.  As  soon  as  the  pupil  had 
a  feeling  for  a  pure  tone  awakened  in  him,  and 
could  of  himself  distinguish  the  finer  variations 
of  timbre,  he  was  taught  to  fill  his  lungs  more 
and  more.  But  this  was  to  be  done,  as  much  as 
possible,  imperceptibly,  noiselessly,  slowly,  and 
soon  enough  for  him  to  be  able  properly  to  con- 
trol the  quiet  breathing  in  the  beginning  of  a 
song.  Only  the  sides  of  the  body  were  in  so 
doing  to  expand,  and  breathing  with  raised 
chest  was  allowed  only  in  exceptional  cases,  as 
where  long  passages  were  to  be  sung  with  special 
passion.  For  these  places,  where  breath  must 
be  taken,  there  were  certain  rules  which  were 
strictly  observed. 

After  we  have  learned  the  natural  laws  which 
are  applicable  in  music,  and  which  lie  at  the 
basis  of  a  full,  rich  tone  in  singing,  and  that  a 
tone  is,  strictly  speaking,  only  vibrating  air,  upon 
the  fine  and  skilful  management  of  which  its 
beauty  and  fulness  depend,  and  have  considered  the 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  113 

careful  way  in  which  the  old  Italians  taught  the 
control  of  the  breathing,  we  cannot  but  be  struck 
with  the  rude  and  negligent  manner  of  using  the 
breath  in  our  present  mode  of  singing. 

With  some  distinguished  exceptions,  it  is  now 
almost  universally  the  practice  to  require  the 
pupil,  as  the  very  first  thing,  to  fill  the  lungs 
as  full  as  possible,  whereby  the  chest  must  be 
raised.  Then  the  tones  must  be  sung  in  as 
strong  and  long-sustained  a  manner  as  possible, 
in  order  "  to  bring  out  the  voice,"  as  the  phrase 
is.  He  is  next  told  to  begin  the  tones  with  a 
full  chest  piano,  and  slowly  swell  them  to  the 
highest  forte,  and  then  descend  as  slowly,  in  order 
to  learn  "  to  govern  the  voice."  Thus  the  pupil 
is  always  required  to  sing  as  strongly  as  possi- 
ble, without  any  special  regard  to  the  timbre 
of  the  tones,  because  the  timbre  is  regarded  as 
a  peculiarity  of  different  voices,  admitting  of  no 
change.  According  to  what  has  been  shown  in 
the  preceding  pages,  the  present  way  of  using 
the  breath,  by  which  it  is  supposed  that  voices 
are  rendered  strong  and  full,  only  needlessly 
fatigues    the    organs,    injures    the     beauty   and 

weakens  even   the   strength   of   the   tones.      In 
10* 


114  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  same  way  we  find,  especially  in  the  case 
of  tenor  voices,  that  the  aim  is  by  greater  forcing 
of  the  breath  to  extend  the  registers  beyond 
their  limits.  Another  fault  is  often  taught : 
the  pupil  is  required  to  force  with  the  breath  to 
the  due  pitch  those  tones  whose  pitch  is  usually 
struck  too  low.  jSo  voices  can  ever  endure  such 
treatment,  and,  although  the  organs  may  be 
strong  enough  to  remain  sound  while  under  in- 
struction, yet  the  voice  will  not  continue  good, 
and  cannot  be  of  long  duration. 

We  often  hear,  even  in  fresh  and  unsophisti- 
cated voices,  a  hoarse  breathing  accompanying 
the  tones,  as  in  the  case  of  worn-out  voices. 
This  breathing  arises  when  the  air,  which  is 
exhaled  and  which  rushes  into  the  cavity  of  the 
mouth,  is  not  all  in  vibration,  and  it  escapes  along 
with  the  vibrating  columns  of  air.  It  some- 
times happens,  also,  that  in  the  too  great  pres- 
sure of  the  exhaled  air  against  the  glottis,  the 
arytenoid  cartilages,  near  their  bases,  and  some- 
times the  vocal  chords  leave  a  small  opening 
through  which  the  air  escapes  with  a  hoarse  noise. 
By  keeping  back  the  breath  in  singing  these  faults 
may  be  corrected.    Long-continued  singing  piano 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  115 

in  exercises  is,  moreover,  beneficial  in  the  form- 
ing of  the  voice.* 

A  simple  expiration  does  not  indeed  suffice 
for  the  generation  of  a  full  sounding  singing 
tone.  There  is  required  a  certain  force  by  which 
the  air  is  sent  through  the  narrow  and  stretched 
glottis.  But  so  great  an  expense  of  force  as 
people  are  usually  at  is  not  necessary. 

The  influence  of  the  same  stream  of  air  in- 
creases in  proportion  as  the  breadth  of  the 
vibrating  ligaments  decreases.  The  tones  of  the 
falsetto  and  head  registers,  therefore,  require  far 
less  breath  than  those  of  the  chest  register.  The 
less  the  quantity  of  breath  expended  in  these 
tones,  and  the  easier  and  more  quickly  they  are 
produced,  the  clearer  and  fuller  do  they  sound. 
The  mechanism  of  the  head  tones  especially  is, 
as  we  have  seen,  so  delicate  that  only  a  slight  ex- 
cess of  breath  calls  forth  the  inharmonic  over- 
tones which  render  the  tone  sharp  and  unmusical. 
In  wind  instruments  the  tone  can  be  forced  up- 

*  The  position  of  the  body  in  singing  must  be  such  as  in 
no  way  to  interfere  with  the  easy  drawing  of  the  breath. 
One  sings  most  easily  standing  as  erect  as  possible,  quiet  and 
unconstrained,  the  chest  somewhat  projected,  the  body  slight.'y 
drawn  in,  and  the  hands  folded. 


116  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

wards  by  a  greater  pressure  of  air;  that  is,  by 
more  powerful  blowing,  which  appears  to  be  prac- 
ticable also  in  those  instruments  in  whose  pecu- 
liar timbre  the  highest  inharmonic  over-tones 
overpower  the  others.* 

Together  with  the  skill  and  unintermitted 
attention  which  this  part  of  instruction  in  sing- 
ing requires  of  the  teacher,  there  are  here  yet 
other  and  peculiar  difficulties  which  he  has  to 
meet.  In  opposition  to  the  earlier  and  more 
correct  view,  it  is  no  longer  beauty  of  tone,  but 
strength  of  tone,  which  is  considered  the  chief 
excellence  of  a  voice.  Accustomed  to  seek  the 
beauty  of  the  voice  in  its  strength,  it  is  attempted, 
before  the  time  of  instruction  begins,  to  sing  as 
strongly  as  possible  from  a  full  chest  with  the 
greatest  expulsion  of  breath.  Thence  it  follows, 
in  the  superficial  way  in  which  the  study  of  the 
art  of  singing  is  at  present  conducted,  that  noth- 
ing more  is  commonly  required  of  a  teacher  than 
that  he  should  be  able  to  drill  his  pupil  in  some 

*  It  was  instruments  of  this  class — trumpets,  horns,  bugles, 
etc. — in  whose  timbre  the  highest  inharmonic  over-tones  over- 
power all  the  rest,  that  were  painfully  offensive  to  the  ex- 
quisite musical  organization  of  Mozart  from  his  earliest  child- 
hood. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  117 

pieces  of  tolerably  well  conceived  vocal  music, 
which  the  latter  must  sing  as  soon  as  possible 
in  company.  A  perfect  culture  of  the  voice  is 
scarcely  any  longer  expected  of  an  artist.  Peo- 
ple with  a  very  scanty  musical  education  and 
voices  very  poorly  trained  are  regarded  as  artists 
if  they  execute  their  parts  with  expression,  and 
trick  them  out  with  those  clap-traps  which 
never  fail  to  command  the  applause  of  the  ordi- 
nary public. 

A  conscientious  teacher  has,  therefore,  univer- 
sal opinion  against  him  when  he  demands  a 
longer  time  for  the  education  of  a  voice,  and 
requires  of  his  pupils  that  they  shall  practice 
singing  only  piano  as  long  as  it  is  necessary. 

THE    CORRECT   TOUCH    OF   THE    VOICE    (TONAN- 

SATZ)  * 

Having  stated  the  first  condition  of  a  good 
timbre  of  the  tones,  we  come  now  to  the  second — 
the  right  direction  of  the  vibrating  columns  of 
air.    A  correct  touch  of  the  voice  consists  in  caus- 

*  It  is  all  but  impossible  to  give  an  idea  of  what  is  meant 
by  Tonansatz,  without  a  practical  illustration.  It  is  that 
striking  of  the  note  or  the  air  corresponding  to  the  touch  in 
piano-playing. 


118  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

ing  the  air,  brought  into  vibration  by  the  vocal 
ligaments,  to  rebound  from  immediately  above 
the  front  upper  teeth,  where  it  must  be  concen- 
trated as  much  as  possible,  rebounding  thence  to 
form  in  the  mouth  continuous  vibrations,  which 
are,  at  the  same  time,  communicated  to  the  exter- 
nal air.  The  quicker  and  the  more  easily  these 
movements  take  place,  and  the  farther  forward  in 
the  mouth  the  vibrating  column  of  air  is  reflected, 
the  more  beautiful,  full  and  telling  is  the  tone. 
If  the  air  rebounds  farther  back  in  the  mouth 
from  any  part  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  then  the 
high  inharmonic  overtones  are  prominent,  and 
there  arises  either  one  or  the  other  of  those  hollow, 
disagreeable  colorings  of  timbre  which  are  known 
as  throat  and  nasal  tones. 

That  the  voice  must  be  brought  forward  iu 
the  mouth — that  is,  that  the  air  expired  in  sing- 
ing should  have  the  above  described  direction — is 
now  acknowledged  as  necessary  and  aimed  at 
by  the  best  teachers.  But  the  reasons  why  the 
tones  thus  sound  better  are  not  known.  The 
Germans  and  the  English,  in  consequence  of  their 
accustomed  modes  of  forming  sounds  in  speak- 
ing, have,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  more  rarely 
than  the  Italians,  a  correct   disposition  of  the 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  119 

tones  in  singing.  It  is  extremely  difficult  for 
many  persons  to  accustom  themselves  to  such 
a  direction  of  the  vibrating  air-columns.  But 
with  the  proper  means  the  skilful  teacher  always 
gains  his  end.  These  means  are  to  let  the  pupil 
practice  those  syllables  which  he  is  accustomed, 
in  his  own  language,  to  form  wholly  in  front  of 
the  mouth. 

The  old  Italian  masters  considered  the  manage- 
ment or  touch  of  the  tone  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant requirements  in  the  perfect  cultivation  of 
the  voice.  Distinctly,  lightly,  swiftly  and  elasti- 
cally  must  the  column  of  tone,  rightly  directed, 
strike  the  forward  part  of  the  mouth,  which  at  the 
same  moment  opens  widely  enough  to  communi- 
cate without  delay  the  quick  agitation  to  the  air 
external  to  it. 

Only  by  a  correct  movement  of  this  kind  (An- 
satz)  are  those  forms  of  the  vibrations  obtained  in 
ichich  all  the  harmonic  over-tones  belonging  to  a 
'perfect  tone  sound  together.  The  quicker,  lighter 
and  more  distinct  this  movement  of  the  tone  is, 
the  more  telling  it  is,  and  it  may  be  heard  quite 
strongly,  even  when  it  is  sung  piano  with  a  full 
chorus  and  orchestra.  Upon  the  occasion  of  the 
great  Musical  Festival  in  Boston  (1869),  it  was  a 


120  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

matter  of  universal  wonder  that  with  the  power- 
ful chorus  of  many  thousands  of  voices,  Mad. 
Parepa-Rosa's  tones  were  heard  so  distinctly  that 
even  at  a  considerable  distance  the  words  were 
plainly  understood.  As  great  artists  often  find 
the  true  and  only  beautiful  unconsciously,  so  Mad. 
Parepa-Rosa  has  a  perfectly  correct  touch,  whereby 
she  sets  the  surrounding  air  vibrating  more  rap- 
idly than  it  is  possible  for  a  chorus  to  do  with  so 
many  unschooled  voices.  The  sounding  waves 
of  the  tones  which  this  distinguished  singer  pro- 
duced with  the  correct  touch,  naturally  reached 
the  ear  sooner  and  were  earlier  felt  and  taken  into 
the  consciousness  of  the  listener  than  those  of  the 
mighty  chorus,  and  thus  it  was  that  the  music  of 
a  single  voice  kept  its  significance  even  with  the 
accompaniment  of  a  multitude  of  voices. 

The  great  influence  of  the  touch  upon  the  ful- 
ness, and  especially  upon  the  extent  to  which  tones 
reach,  is  again  best  illustrated  by  the  movements 
of  water.  When  we  press  on  the  surface  of  water 
slowly,  though  with  the  greatest  force,  and  at  the 
same  time  touch  it  in  another  place  quickly  and 
lightly,  it  is  not  only  far  more  strongly  moved  by 
the  quick,  light  touch,  but  the  waves  which  are 
produced   spread   themselves   out  more  rapidly 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  121 

and  run  more  swiftly  over  the  surface,  than  those 
of  the  slower  and  more  powerful  pressure. 

As  the  form  of  the  vibrations  necessary  to  a 
perfect  tone  in  singing  depends  mainly  upon  a 
right  management  of  tone,  it  is  self-evident  that 
here  the  greatest  care  should  be  taken  in  teaching 
vocal  music.  Here  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
tasks  for  the  teacher,  and  great  perseverance  and 
much  practice  are  required  of  the  pupil.  But 
when  once  a  right  production  of  tone  has  become 
a  habit,  so  that  with  every  tone  all  the  harmonic 
over-tones  sound,  and  more  breath  is  then  allowed 
to  stream  forth  immediately  after  the  quick,  light 
rebound  of  the  vibrating  column  of  tone,  the 
vibrations  enlarge  without  changing  their  form, 
and  so  only  the  strongest,  fullest,  most  beautiful 
tone  possible  is  obtained.  But  a  touch  can  only 
be  learned  by  imitation.  We  can  no  more 
describe  the  fine  shades  of  tone  than  of  color. 
And  no  art,  least  of  all  the  art  of  singing,  can  be 
learned  from  books  alone. 

FORMATION   OF   VOWELS   AND   CONSONANTS 

The  sound  of  the  vowels  depends,  as  we  have 
Keen,  upon  whether  one  or  another  of  the  over- 
tones takes  precedence  in  sound.     But  the  condi- 
11  F 


122  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

tions  by  which  the  formation  of  the  vowel?  is 
determined  lie  in  the  form  of  the  cavity  of  the 
mouth,  and  of  the  contraction  of  the  same  in 
some  one  place  or  another  during  expiration. 
These  places  are  different  in  different  languages 
and  dialects.  They  are  among  the  English,  Ger- 
mans and  French  farthest  back  in  sounding  a,  as 
in  father ;  farther  forward  in  a,  as  in  may,  o,  e, 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  here  placed ;  and 
farther  front  in  the  German  u  (oo). 

The  length  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  is  the 
greatest  in  sounding  oo,  the  least  in  e,  interme- 
diate in  a.  In  the  pure,  clear  a,  as  in  may,  or  e 
of  the  Germans,  the  cavity  is  the  narrowest. 
Hence,  to  form  a  tone  on  this  vowel  is  very 
difficult,  and  it  is  the  only  vowel  whose  pure  pro- 
nunciation must  be  sacrificed  to  the  tone.  Good 
tones  can  be  formed  on  this  vowel  when  in  both 
series  of  the  chest  register  there  is  mingled  with  it 
the  sound  of  the  German  o,  pronounced  in  English 
nearly  like  the  vowel  in  bird,  and  in  the  higher 
registers  the  sound  of  the  e — that  is,  of  the  Ger- 
man i.  The  cavity  of  the  mouth  is  thus  some- 
what broadened,  and  the  tone  gains  more  room 
for  its  development. 

The  Swiss    form   the  o   and  u  like  the  a  in 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  123 

father y  broadest  at  the  back  of  the  mouth,  and 
the  e  broadest  towards  the  front.  But  the 
Italians  form  no  vowel  as  far  front  as  their  clear 
sounding  beautiful  a,  as  in  father  ;  and  probably 
because  the  a  in  the  Italian  language  sounds 
broadest  and  most  distinctly,  Italian  wagoners 
drive  their  beasts  with  the  shout  of  a!  a!  while 
the  Germans  use  for  the  same  purpose,  hil  I  huo  ! 
and  the  Swiss,  hipp  !  One  can  only  approximate 
an  imitation  of  the  Italian  a  by  uttering  it  in 
connection  with  consonants  coming  rapidly,  as  in 
pfa,  bra,  and  in  as  short  and  rapid  a  manner  as 
possible. 

The  old  Italian  masters  naturally  found  their 
beautiful  a  most  favorable  to  the  formation  of 
a  good  tone  in  singing ;  and  thus  it  has  been 
adopted  by  other  nations.  But  here  is  the  very 
reason  why  a  tone  free  from  badly  sounding 
colorings  is  so  rarely  heard.  We  have  blindly 
imitated  the  Italians,  without  considering  the 
different  modes  of  forming  the  vowels  in  different 
languages  and  nations,  and  that  the  Italian  a  is  a 
vowel  entirely  different  from  the  German  and  the 
similarly  sounding  English  a.  Its  correct  sound 
is  learned  by  those  to  whom  it  is  not  vernacular 
only  with  difficulty. 


124  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

As  the  vowels  are  differently  formed  in  dif- 
ferent languages,  so  is  it  also  with  the  con- 
sonants. The  North  Germans  form  the  letter 
r  with  the  soft  palate,  which  is  made  to 
vibrate  by  the  exhalation  of  the  breath.  The 
South  Germans,  Russians  and  Italians  form 
the  r  by  the  vibration  of  the  tip  of  the  tongue. 
It  is  only  this  mode  of  forming  the  r  which 
is  to  be  used  in  singing,  and  must  be  learned 
by  those  who  do  not  usually  form  it  thus.  This 
is  sometimes  rather  difficult,  but  it  can  be  done 
by  repeating  frequently  and  rapidly,  one  after 
the  other,  the  syllables  hede,  hedo,  or  ede,  edo. 
In  this  way  the  tongue  gets  accustomed  to 
the  right  position  and  motion,  which  it  by- 
and-by  learns  rapidly  enough  for  the  formation 
of  the  rolling  r. 

The  Italians,  likewise,  form  the  I  with  the  tip 
of  the  tongue,  the  Germans  and  English  mostly 
with  the  side  edges  of  the  tongue.  With  some 
attention  one  can,  by  feeling,  find  out  in  his  own 
organ  the  place  for  the  formation  of  the  different 
vowels  and  consonants,  and  an  ear  accustomed 
to  delicate  differences  of  tone  will  perceive  the 
right  place  in  others. 

But  in  teaching,  the  example  of  the  wagonera 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  125 

must  be  follow ed,  and  as  these  people  have  found 
oat  the  most  appropriate  vowels  and  syllables 
whereby  to  make  themselves  understood  by  their 
animals,  we  must  choose  what  is  best  fitting  to 
the  formation  of  tone  in  singing. 

Long  before  I  found  the  scientific  reason  of  this 
mode  of  proceeding,  my  attention  was  called  by 
Frederic  Wiek,  in  Dresden,  to  the  fact  that  a  fine 
tone  can  be  most  quickly  attained  by  practising 
in  the  beginning  upon  the  syllables  sw,  soo,  or 
dii,  doOj  and  by  not  passing  to  the  other  vowels 
until  one  is  accustomed  to  produce  tones  in  the 
front  of  the  mouth.  These  syllables  are  nat- 
urally spoken  by  the  Germans  and  the  English 
in  the  front  part  of  the  mouth.  The  s  is  formed 
with  the  lips  apart,  while  the  air  is  blown 
through  the  upper  teeth ;  it  thus  assists  one, 
united  with  u  (oo),  to  direct  the  tone  forwards. 
But  because  in  the  u  the  lips  are  almost  closed, 
care  must  be  taken  that,  within  the  lips,  the  teeth 
are  far  enough  apart.  The  cavity  of  the  mouth 
must  be  large  enough  to  allow  of  the  largest  pos- 
sible wave  of  sound,  since  upon  the  size  of  that, 
as  we  know,  the  strength  of  the  tone  depends. 
When  the  pupil,  after  some  practice,  has  learned 

to  give  the  right  direction  to  the  stream  of  sound, 
11* 


126  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

he  must  be  required  gradually  to  form  th »  other 
vowels  like  the  soo  in  the  front  part  of  the 
mouth,  passing  from  this  syllable  immediately 
to  the  other  vowels,  as,  for  example,  soo-a,  soo-o, 
soo-e,  soo-o-e-ah,  &c.  Only  care  must  be  taker* 
that  the  course  of  the  air  preserves  its  righi 
direction. 

Solmisation,  also,  *.  e.,  naming  the  tones,  c,  d, 
e,  f,  g,  a,  b,  by  the  syllables  do,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la, 
si,  assists  a  good  touch  when  the  pupil  employs 
it  in  the  more  rapid  exercises. 

There  is  no  fixed  rule  that  can  be  laid  down 
in  regard  to  the  necessary  opening  of  the  mouth 
and  its  position.  The  structure  of  the  palate 
and  the  form  of  the  jaw,  and  the  position  of 
the  teeth,  lips,  &c,  vary  in  different  persons. 
The  ear  of  the  teacher  must  alone  determine 
what  position  of  those  several  parts  will  best 
secure  a  good  timbre.  But  in  every  case,  for  the 
highest  tones  of  the  voice  the  widest  possible 
opening  of  the  mouth  is  necessary,  and  even 
when,  in  the  formation  of  the  vowels,  the  lips 
have  to  be  brought  nearer  to  each  other,  yet  the 
teeth  within  must  be  kept  apart,  that  the  cavil  y 
of  the  mouth  may  remain  large  enough. 

Wind   instruments  show  the  influence  which 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  127 

the  orifice  and  breadth  of  the  bell  has  upon  the 
strength  of  the  tone.  In  the  human  voice  the 
mouth  occupies  the  place  of  the  bell. 

We  have  already  made  the  remark,  in  speaking 
of  the  different  registers,  that  in  the  chest  tones 
the  position  of  the  larynx  is  lowered.  The 
cavity  of  the  mouth,  then,  is  naturally  length- 
ened, and  hence  a  moderate  opening  of  the* 
mouth,  so  that,  in  singing  the  notes  of  the  low 
chest  register,  the  teeth  are  a  thumb's  breadth 
apart,  suffices  for  a  good  tone.  The  second  chest 
register  requires  the  slightest  opening  of  the 
mouth.  It  is  enough  if  one  can  press  a  finger 
between  the  teeth.  With  the  high  falsetto  and 
head  tones  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  is  always 
shorter  and  narrower  towards  the  back,  but  as  the 
tones  ascend,  it  must  be  always  broader  in  front. 
In  singing  the  first  falsetto  register,  the  teeth 
should  be  about  the  breadth  of  the  thumb  apart ; 
in  the  second  falsetto  register,  two  fingers  apart ' 
and  in  the  head  register,  the  mouth  must  be 
open  as  far  as  possible.  But  precise  rules  cannot 
here  be  given.  I  have  observed,  however,  that 
in  thin  voices  a  too  broad  opening  of  the  mouth 
in  the  middle  tones  of  the  voice  favors  the  high 
over-tones    more    than   the    fundamental    tone, 


128  THE-  VOICE  IN  SINGING 

and  the  tones  are  thus  flat  and  wanting  in 
timbre. 

Lips  too  thick  and  stiff  sometimes  injure  the 
tirabre  of  the  tone  ;  they  are  often  the  cause  of  a 
veiled,  muffled  timbre,  acting  like  dampers  and 
rendering  a  part  of  the  over-tones  inaudible.  In 
such  cases,  as  soon  as  he  has  become  accustomed 
to  a  correct  direction  of  the  column  of  tone,  the 
pupil  should  keep  the  lips  as  close  to  the  teeth  as 
possible,  and  draw  back  somewhat  the  corners  of 
the  mouth. 

The  tongue  also  is  not  infrequently  a  hindrance 
to  the  formation  of  a  good  tone,  especially  when 
the  pupils  have  not  been  taught  early  enough  to 
open  their  mouths  sufficiently  wide.  When  the 
high  tones  are  to  be  produced,  which  require 
much  room  in  the  forward  part  of  the  mouth, 
the  tongue  is  usually  drawn  back  and  raised,  in 
order  to  make  the  necessary  room  within  the 
lower  front  teeth.  This,  again,  is  a  habit  difficult 
to  hi  broken,  and  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
lower  front  teeth  are  lightly  touched  by  the  tip 
of  the  tongue  in  singing,  in  order  that  the  tongue 
may  be  accustomed  to  a  natural  position.  But 
this  is  most  easily  attained  when  the  tongue  is  at 
the  first  kept  occupied  as  much  as  possible  by 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  129 

quick  exercises  with  the  syllables  of  solmisation, 
or  by  practising  tones  in  slow  time  upon  sylla- 
bles beginning  with  consonants  formed  by  the  tip 
of  the  tongue.  As  in  pronouncing  the  German 
Sch  the  tongue  presses  the  teeth  all  around  with 
its  outer  edge,  syllables  formed  with  these  conso- 
nants serve  excellently  well  to  accustom  the 
tongue  to  a  quiet,  correct  position. 

FLEXIBILITY   OF    VOICE 

We  hear  it  continually  said  that  it  requires  a 
special  natural  gift  to  acquire  a  certain  ease  and 
flexibility  of  voice,  and  that  this  natural  gift  is 
peculiar  to  the  Italians.  But  the  flexibility  of 
the  voice  depends  upon  a  physiologico-physical 
process  of  the  organ  of  tone,  which,  among  the 
Italians,  goes  on  in  their  common  speech,  and 
hence  is  more  easily  transferred  by  them  to  their 
singing.  In  trills,  roulades,  turns,  and  all  tones 
quickly  succeeding  one  another,  the  breath  must 
set  the  vocal  chords  vibrating  in  quick,  short 
pulses.  The  little  time  used  by  the  breath  be- 
tween these  rapidly  succeeding  pulses  to  retreat. 
in  order  to  give  another  pulse,  suffices  perfectly 
to  produce  easily  and  quickly  the  position  of  the 
glottis  requisite  for  a  higher  or  lower  tone.     In 

If* 


130  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

order,  between  the  pulses,  to  give  room  to  the 
retreating  breath,  the  windpipe  expands  laterally, 
whereby  the  larynx  is  always  somewhat  drawn 
down,  in  order,  with  the  next  pulse  of  the  breath, 
to  take  again  its  former  place.  This  rising  and 
lowering  of  the  larynx  can  be  seen  plainly  out- 
side the  throat,  and  it  can  be  seen  also  whether 
the  movement  goes  on  rightly.  Upon  the  degree 
of  rapidity  with  which  this  movement  goes  on 
depends  the  greater  or  less  flexibility  of  the 
voice. 

But  when  the  breath  in  exhaling  presses  in 
regularly  increasing  strength  against  the  vocal 
chords,  and  one  wishes  to  pass  quickly  to  a  higher 
tone  and  back  again,  as  is  required  in  trills,  while 
the  aerial  stream  continues  to  flow  on  with  unin- 
termitted  force,  it  is  evident  that  the  changed 
mov>ment  of  the  glottis,  even  within  the  limits 
of  a  register,  demands  more  time  and  muscular 
force  than  a  beautiful  trill  or  run  admits  of.  But 
at  the  same  time  the  limits  of  the  tones  become, 
by  the  uninterrupted  stream  of  air,  obliterated, 
and  embellishments  sung  in  this  way,  with  un- 
moved larynx,  indistinct.  But  ornamentation  is 
now  practised   only  in  this  latter  way,  and   if 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  131 

pupils  do  not  naturally  move  their  throats  cor- 
rectly, the  gift  of  flexibility  is  denied  them. 

A  quite  prevalent  and  likewise  incorrect  way 
of  using  the  throat  is  moving  the  epiglottis  with 
the  larynx,  which  renders  the  formation  of  a  clear, 
pure  tone  impossible,  and  jiorituri  sung  in  this 
way  are  limp  and  indistinct.  The  only  correct 
movement  shows  itself  very  plainly  externally, 
so  that  with  the  tolerably  strong  movement 
of  the  larynx  up  and  down,  there  can  be  seen 
also  a  slighter  movement  of  the  windpipe  far 
below  in  the  neck,  about  the  breadth  of  two 
fingers  above  the  breast-bone.  The  mouth  and 
tongue,  however,  must  be  perfectly  quiet. 

But  the  cultivation  of  vocal  flexibility  in  sing- 
ing is  the  easiest  and  most  grateful  part  of  the 
education  of  the  voice,  for  with  ordinary  industry 
on  the  part  of  the  pupil  results  are  here  obtained 
most  speedily.  In  the  very  first  lessons  I  teach 
my  pupils  the  motions  of  the  vocal  organ  in  trills, 
and  if  they  do  not  learn  them  by  imitation,  I  give 
them  simple  exercises  on  the  syllable  koo  to  prac- 
tice for  a  while.  The  k  is  produced  by  a  pulse 
of  the  breath,  and  the  oo  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
best  vowel  sound  with  which  to  direct  the  breath 
as  it  is  expired.     Thus,  by  singing  staccato  the 


132  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

syllable  koo,  slowly  at  first  and  gradually 
quicker,  with  a  movement  of  the  larynx  and 
windpipe  that  is  both  seen  and  felt;  and  with 
the  tongue  and  lips  at  rest  and  motionless,  the 
right  movement  is  given  to  the  organ  in  trills 
and  all  other  embellishments,  and  by  continued 
practice  the  movement  becomes  more  rapid. 
Those  who  need  to  be  taught  this  movement 
must  never  practice  continuously  for  any  length 
of  time,  for  we  must  avoid  fatiguing  the  organs. 
When  pupils  have  become  accustomed,  by  rap- 
idly singing  the  syllable  koo  on  each  tone  of 
the  trill,  to  the  movement  of  the  larynx,  then 
they  can  practice  upon  another  syllable,  and  in 
the  following  way  :  Let  the  trill  be  at  first  always 
sung  piano,  with  an  accenting  of  the  higher  tone 
every   time    and   a    gradual    increasing   of    the 

rapidity  thus 

'  J   I  '  I  I 

;  also  in  half  and  whole 

tones,  and  then  in  minor  thirds.  But  the  most 
beautiful  trill  will  be  formed  by  practising  trip- 
lets in  the  compass  of  a  whole  tone,  then  of  a 
minor  third,  major  third,  fourth,  etc.,  by  which 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  133 

first  the  upper,  then  the  lower  tone  is  accented  : 
:^E^i^=|=E| .      The   mouth,  however,  in   this 

J  Lj    Qj 

exercise  must  continue  immovably  open,  and  the 
tongue  also  must  lie  perfectly  still,  touching  the 
lower  front  teeth,  for  only  in  this  way  can  one  be 
sure  of  not  moving  the  epiglottis.  Although 
this  is  difficult  at  first,  yet  the  syllable  ku  (koo) 
may  be  sung  in  this  way.  Thus,  with  sufficient 
practice,  any  one  may  acquire  a  perfect  flexi- 
bility of  voice.  When  the  pupils  can  make  the 
trill  easily  upon  the  middle  tones,  in  which  in  the 
beginning  exercises  must  be  practised,  let  them 
practice  also  upon  the  higher  and  lower  tones  of 
the  voice.  If  the  trill  takes  place  at  the  transi- 
tion of  two  registers,  then  both  the  tones  must 
be  formed  upon  the  higher  of  the  two,  as  in  an 
exchange  of  registers  the  glottis  requires  more 
time  than  a  good  trill  admits  of. 

Rapid  runs  downwards  are  easily  executed  cor- 
rectly when  care  is  taken  that  with  every  tone  the 
same  movement  is  made  as  in  the  case  of  trills, 
and  the  breath  is  kept  back  as  much  as  possible. 
Voices  wanting  in  flexibility  may  soon  acquire 
the  desired  quality  by  singing  every  tone  piano 

upon  the  syllable  koo. 
12 


134  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

Ascending  runs  can  properly  be  taught  only 
when  the  descending  have  been  correctly  sung, 
for,  in  opposition  to  the  former,  every  tone  of  the 
latter  must  be  formed  by  a  light  impulse  with 
increased  breath.  The  softer  the  piano  in  which 
the  pupil  practises,  and  the  more  loose  the  conse- 
quent movement  of  the  larynx,  the  more  dis- 
tinctly and  the  more  purely  will  the  pupil  gradu- 
ally execute  these  embellishments. 

Intelligible  as  these  movements  are  in  practice, 
it  is  difficult  to  describe  them.  To  be  able  to 
make  all  ornaments  in  singing  beautifully  and 
easily  requires  long  practice,  for  in  a  thoroughly 
artistic  piece  of  vocal  music  it  is  essential,  as  the 
great  artist  Schroder-Devrient  said,  that  all  the 
notes  of  ornamentation  (Coloratur)  should  be 
like  a  string  of  pearls  on  black  velvet,  each 
distinct  in  itself,  round  and  beautiful,  and 
yet  so  connected  with  the  rest  in  one  whole 
that  no  gap  is  discernible.  Carefully  and  cor- 
rectly directed  exercises  in  ornamentation  are 
in  the  highest  degree  necessary  to  the  forma- 
tion of  tone;  they  tire  the  voice  far  less  than 
sustained  notes,  and  accustom  it  to  an  exact  enun- 
ciation of  the  tones.  But  because  persevering 
practice  is  necessary  to  the  cultivation  of  vocal 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  135 

flexibility,  the  teaching  of  this  is  to  be  begun 
at  the  very  first ;  and  not  until  later,  when  the 
voice  is  habituated  to  a  right  touch  and  to  a 
perfectly  clear  tone,  is  the  pupil  to  be  given 
those  favorite  exercises  with  long-sustained  notes, 
which  are  sung  with  one  continuous  breath. 
That  we  so  rarely  meet  with  clear  vocal  fluency 
is  again  owing  to  our  mode  of  teaching.  We  do 
not  seek  to  cultivate  formation  of  tone  and 
fluency  at  the  same  time.  Oftentimes  it  is  only 
after  years  spent  in  singing  sustained  tones  that 
ornaments  are  allowed  to  be  practised,  and  then, 
instead  of  using  as  little  breath  as  possible,  the 
flexibility  of  the  larynx  is  hindered  by  singing 
too  powerfully  with  full  chest  and  un intermitted 
crowding  of  the  breath.  Without  denying  that 
in  regard  to  vocal  flexibility  different  indi- 
viduals and  nations  may  be  variously  gifted,  it  is 
nevertheless  certain  that  with  due  practice  every 
one  may  acquire  more  or  less  of  vocal  fluency. 

FrederichWiek  has  composed  for  his  pupils  a 
large  number  of  simple  exercises,  in  which  all 
kinds  of  ornaments  are  introduced,  and  which 
at  the  same  time  are  so  melodious  that  they 
oasily  catch  the  ear.  They  mostly  comprise 
only  a  few  tones,  at  the  most  an  octave,  and 


136  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

are  sung  in  half  tones,  ascending  in  different 
keys.  Next  to  these  exercises  come,  as  highly 
adapted  to  the  culture  of  vocal  flexibility,  the 
solfeggi  of  Mieksch,  Mazzoni,  Rossini,  Crescen- 
tini>  &c.  There  is,  indeed,  no  want  of  excellent 
exercises  and  solfeggi.  Their  use,  however, 
depends  upon  the  way  in  which  the  teacher 
requires  them  to  be  practised.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  abundance  of  these  exercises,  I  have 
always  found  it  necessary  to  prepare  special 
ones  for  my  pupils,  as  every  voice  requires  pecu- 
liar treatment  and  guidance.*  In  every  pupil 
peculiar  faults  are  to  be  overcome  and  peculiar 
qualities  come  into  play,  and  the  vocal  organ 
shows  as  many  differences  as  the  human  face. 
But  the  right  way  is  sure  to  be  found  when 
the  irreversible  laws  of  nature,  which  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  our  art,  are  once  recognized. 
The  practica1  advantages  of  this  knowledge  the 
singer,  like  every  other  artist,  must  endeavor 
to  secure  orally,  that  is,  by  sound  instruction. 
Ornamentation,    however,    can    become    distinct 

*  A  selection  of  such  exercises,  prepared  by  the  present 
writer,  has  recently  been  published  by  Mr.  O.  Ditson  in  Bos- 
ton, ana  also  two  books  of  old  Italian  solfeggi  from  Mieksch 
and  Mazz^xni,  arranged  to  the  present  pitch. 


TEE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  137 

and  clear  only  by  uniting  these  with  a  distinct, 
pure  touch,  as  we  have  already  endeavored  to 
describe,  when,  with  the  beginning  of  the  tone, 
the  pitch  is  struck  lightly,  quickly,  distinctly, 
elastically,  with  certainty  and  perfect  correctness. 
But  as  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  introduce  a 
tone  quickly  and  correctly,  so  that  it  will  sound 
equally  pure  from  the  first,  this  flexibility  is 
extremely  rare  among  our  singers.  Instead  of 
it,  the  most  hateful  mannerisms  have  stolen  into 
practice;  the  tone  is  struck  too  low,  and  forced 
up  by  an  increase  of  breath,  or  the  tones  are  so 
drawled  one  into  another  that  one  cannot  tell 
where  they  begin  or  where  they  cease.  Impure 
intonation  is  much  more  disagreeable  in  the 
high  tones  than  in  the  low.  This  is  quite  nat- 
ural ;  for  when,  for  example,  the  low  c  is  sung 
one-tenth  too  low  or  too  high,  then  it  will  cause 
an  octave  higher  twice  as  many  vibrations,  and 
two  octaves  higher  four  times  as  many,  and 
these  in  proportion  to  their  number  produce  a 
more  intense  effect.  In  the  higher  registers  of 
the  tones  little  discords  (Verstimmungen)  call 
forth  a  much  larger  number  of  beats  (which  arc 
not   to  be  confounded  with  vibrations)  than  in 

the  lower,  and  thus  the  impurity  of  the  musical 
12* 


138  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

intervals  is  felt  much  more  strongly.  Purity 
in  the  art  of  singing  is,  however,  such  a  primal 
condition  of  its  beauty,  that  a  piece  of  music 
purely  executed,  even  by  a  weak  and  slightly- 
cultivated  voice,  always  sounds  agreeably,  while 
the  most  sonorous  and  practised  voice  offends 
the  hearer  when  it  is  out  of  tune  or  forced  up- 
wards. The  training  of  our  singers  by  pianos, 
as  they  are  now  tuned,  by  equal  temperament, 
is  altogether  unsatisfactory.  The  singer  who 
practises  with  the  piano  has  no  safe  principle 
by  which  he  can  measure  the  height  of  his  tones 
with  any  exactness.  But  persons  of  good  musi- 
cal talent,  made  aware  of  this  disadvantage  by  a 
competent  teacher,  and  practising  accordingly, 
can  nevertheless  overcome  this  difficulty  caused 
by  our  present  method  of  tuning,  and  learn  to 
sing  correctly  and  purely. 

Until  the  seventeenth  century,  singers  were 
drilled  by  the  monochord,  for  which  Zarlino,  in 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  re-intro- 
duced the  correct,  natural  tuning.  The  drilling 
of  singers  was  conducted  at  that  time  with  a 
care  of  which  we  have  now  no  idea.  The  church 
music  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  is 
arranged  upon  the  purest  consonant  chords,  de- 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  139 

pending  upon  this  for  its  whole  effect,  which 
would  naturally  be  injured  if  not  executed  with 
perfect  purity.  Our  opera  singers  now-a-days 
are  seldom  able  to  sing  without  accompaniment 
a  composition  for  several  voices  so  purely  that 
its  whole  beauty  is  felt ;  the  accord  almost  always 
sounds  sharp  and  somewhat  uncertain,  and  there- 
fore cannot  satisfy  a  really  musical  ear. 

SPEECH 

The  vowels  and  consonants  are,  in  speaking, 
produced  by  certain  noises  (Gerausche),  which 
in  singing  sound  together  with  the  tone.  These 
sounds  are  produced  by  local  diminutions  of 
the  cavity  of  the  mouth,  or  by  the  opening 
or  closing  of  the  lips  and  teeth,  as  well  as 
by  movements  of  the  tip  of  the  tongue,  &c, 
while  a  single  pulse  of  the  air  passes  through 
the  tolerably  wide  open  glottis  and  through  the 
cavity  of  the  mouth  without  regular  vibrations 
For  the  air  rushes  more  directly  out  of  the 
mouth  in  speaking  than  in  singing.  Of  this 
we  may  be  easily  convinced  by  holding  a  feather 
before  the  mouth;  it  will  show  far  more  mo- 
tion in  speaking  than  in  correct  singing.  If, 
in    speaking,  people   would  take  pains  to   form 


140  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  vowels  in  the  front  of  the  mouth— a  habit 
so  necessary  in  singing,  and  which  is  easily 
acquired  by  practice — our  common  speech  would 
be  much  more  melodious,  far-sounding,  and  less 
strained.  We  see  the  truth  of  this  when  we 
hear  words  called  out  from  a  height  and  from 
a  distance ;  the  different  consonants  then  mostly 
disappear,  excepting  the  m  and  n,  which  are 
formed  mostly  in  the  front  of  the  mouth.  The 
vowels,  on  the  other  hand,  are  more  or  less 
plainly  heard,  according  to  the  places  in  the 
mouth  where  they  are  formed.  Certain  it  is 
that  for  the  beauty  of  our  common  speech,  the 
resonance  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  peculiar 
to  each  vowel  may  be  rendered  available.  A 
singing  tone  in  speaking  is  very  disagreeable. 
Every  one  who  is  not  used  to  it,  finds  the  sing- 
ing dialect  of  Saxony  in  the  highest  degree 
offensive  and  unpleasant.  Nevertheless,  a  more 
attentive  observation  soon  teaches  us  that  be- 
hind the  noise  which  characterizes  the  several 
sounds  in  language,  a  timbre  is  heard  similar  to 
the  tone  in  singing,  and  in  various  instances 
there  occur  regular  musical  intervals,  as  at  the 
end  of  a  sentence  or  in  the  special  accentuation 
of  single  words.     Thus,  at  the  conclusion  of  an 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  141 

affirmative  sentence  the  voice  usually  falls  about 
a  fourth  from  the  medium  pitch,  and  at  the  end 
of  an  interrogatory  sentence  rises  about  a  fifth 
above  the  usual  speaking  tone.  Words  spe- 
cially accented  are  usually  a  tone  higher  than 
the  rest,  &c.  In  public  speaking  and  in  drama- 
tic representations  these  variations  of  sound  are 
more  numerous  and  complicated,  and  the  inven- 
tor of  the  modern  Eecitative,  Jacob  Perri,  even 
declares  that  he  formed  it  by  imitating  in  sing- 
ing these  variations  of  sound,  in  order  to  restore 
again  the  declamation  of  the  ancient  tragedians.* 
Tedious  and  intolerable  as  it  is  to  hear  so 
much  sing-song  in  common  speech,  it  is  equally 
wearisome  when  people  drone  on  always  in  a 
dry  speaking  tone  at  the  same  pitch,  without 
ever  letting  the  voice  rise  or  fall.  The  most 
interesting  matter  thus  delivered  will  lull  the 
hearer  to  sleep.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  a  rich 
field  is  here  offered  for  farther  scientific  observa- 
tion, and  those  natural  laws  which  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  the  art  of  singing  may  certainly 
be  applied  with  advantage  to  the  perfecting  of 

*  According  to  BoetJiins,  the  lyra,  which  was  used  by  the 
Greeks  to  accompany  declamation,  embraced,  in  the  tuning 
of  its  strings,  the  principal  intervals  used  in  speaking. 


142  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  mode  of  speaking,  especially  in  those  who 
have  to  speak  in  public.  * 

To  extend  these  remarks  any  farther  does  not 
come  within  our  present  purpose,  which  is  con- 
cerned exclusively  with  the  voice  in  singing  and 
its  cultivation.  For  this  reason  I  leave  unno- 
ticed many  most  interesting  phenomena  relating 
to  music  in  general,  but  not  particularly  to  the 
culture  of  the  voice,  although  they  are  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  the  educated  musician. 

*  Since  the  appearance  of  this  book  I  have  often  been  con- 
sulted by  persons  whose  calling  required  them  to  speak  in 
public,  and  whose  vocal  organs  were  no  longer  competent 
thereto.  Here  also  I  have  found  in  most  cases  that  there  was 
an  incorrect  use  of  the  registers,  and  that  men  especially 
form  the  lowest  sounds  with  that  forced  enlarging  of  the 
windpipe  already  mentioned  (that  is,  with  the  so-called 
Strohbassregister).  Many  have  probably  fallen  into  this  un- 
natural and  exhausting  manner  by  attempting  to  speak  or  to 
sing  loudly.  Together  with  the  incorrect  use  of  the  registers, 
there  is  also  an  incorrect  management  (Leitung)  of  the  vi- 
brating air,  which  so  often  renders  speaking  so  difficult  to 
public  speakers.  As,  when  the  voice  is  not  wholly  directed 
to  the  front  of  the  mouth,  it  does  not  move  the  external  air 
quickly  enough  and  so  does  not  reach  far,  the  speaker 
commonly  tries  to  help  himself  by  a  greater  expenditure 
of  force.  Misled  by  false  views,  speakers  usually  attempt  by 
a  great  waste  of  breath  and  by  exertion  alone  to  produce  an 
effect  which  can  be  realized  only  by  skilful  management  of 
the  most  delicate  and  easily  moved  of  all  things,  the  air. 


IV 

THE    ESTHETIC   VIEW 

OF   THE   ART   OF   SINGING 

HAVING  treated,  in  the  two  preceding  divi- 
sions of  this  book,  of  the  physiological  and 
physical  laws  lying  at  the  basis  of  singing  tones, 
and  of  their  practical  application  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  voice,  we  come  now  to  the  better 
known — the  aesthetic — part  of  our  task. 

The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  th?t  as,  in  the 
preceding  sections,  our  attention  has  been  confined 
to  what  directly  relates  to  the  culture  of  the  voice 
in  singing,  notwithstanding  the  strong  temptation 
to  transcend  the  limits  which  our  present  design 
prescribes,  so  in  this  section  also  the  same  pui- 
pose  is  kept  in  view,  and  it  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  treating  of  the  aesthetics  of  music  in  general. 

Hitherto  we  have  had  to  do  with  fixed,  irre- 
versible laws,  which  are  to  be  implicitly  fol- 
lowed in  order  to  render  singing  as  perfect  as 
possible.     We  have  seen  how  the  decline  of  the 

143 


144  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

art  of  singing  had  to  follow  as  a  necessary  con- 
sequence the  non-observance  of  these  laws.  In 
speaking  thus  far  of  the  agreeable  and  the  dis- 
agreeable, of  the  beautiful  and  its  opposite,  we 
have  had  no  reference  to  artistic  feeling.  We 
have  been  concerned  only  with  direct  sensuous 
pleasure  or  pain,  not  with  aesthetic  beauty.  We 
have  been  occupied  thus  far  with  the  technique 
of  our  art — the  form.  But  with  the  animating 
spirit  of  this  form,  the  cesthetic,  we  enter  upon 
a  broader  field,  which,  dependent  upon  purely 
psychological  reasons  (Ilotiven),  may  undergo  a 
change,  either  from  the  general  progress  of  man- 
kind or  from  the  culture  of  the  practised  artist. 
Thus,  although  from  Aristotle  down  to  Lessing 
and  our  own  times  the  principles  of  beauty  in 
all  the  arts  are  the  same,  yet  every  period,  in 
which  art  has  flourished,  has  produced  works, 
various  indeed,  and  corresponding  to  the  spirit 
of  the  age,  works,  which,  however,  notwithstand- 
ing all  differences,  have  still  conformed  to  the 
demands  of  the  principles  of  beauty.  Thus,  in 
architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  music,  &c,  there 
are  different  styles  of  art,  every  one  of  which, 
however,  has  its  justification  and  its  peculiar 
beauty.      We  are  not,  therefore,  to  judge  these 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  145 

different  styles  of  art  by  the  taste  and  ideas  (Auf- 
fassung)  of  the  present,  but  by  the  character  of 
the  times  that  produced  them.  Although  the 
mode  of  thinking  may  vary  in  accordance  with 
the  different  stages  of  culture  of  individuals  and 
mankind,  there  are,  nevertheless,  certain  princi- 
ples of  beauty  which  all  nature  announces. 

By  beauty  we  understand  the  highest  per- 
fection of  the  single  parts  in  a  perfectly  repre- 
sented whole,  and  the  most  intimate  union  of 
the  ideal  with  the  material,  i.  e.y  of  the  spirit- 
ual with  the  formal,  which  must  have  as  its 
basis  a  certain  proportion  and  order  in  the 
position  of  the  several  parts  as  well  as  in 
their  relation  to  the  whole  work.  In  the  per- 
ception of  the  beautiful,  everything  must  tend 
to  awaken  the  feeling  of  repose  and  pleasure; 
and  the  more  susceptible  we  are  of  the  impres- 
sion of  the  beautiful,  the  more  shall  we  be  dis- 
turbed by  defects,  even  the  least,  in  any  work 
of  art.  The  pleasure  which  we  take  in  any 
work  of  art,  which,  however  faultless  in  certain 
respects,  shows  any  glaring  defect,  is  greatly 
abridged.  The  ugly  spot  will  absorb  our  atten- 
tion and  destroy  the  pure  enjoyment  of  its  beauty, 

and  still  more  disagreeable  will  be  the  effect  if 
13  g 


146  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  different  parte,  otherwise  beautifully  shaped, 
are  thrown  out  of  their  due  symmetry  and  pio- 
portion.  In  the  successive  arts,  as  music,  the 
dramatic  art,  &c,  proportion  (Maassvolle)  is  an 
essential  condition  of  beauty,  more  than  in  the 
simultaneous  arts ;  and  an  artist  whose  technique 
is  altogether  perfect,  and  who  can  succeed  in 
reproducing  every  emotion  of  the  mind  in  his 
work,  is  a  true  artist  only  when  he  never  trans- 
gresses by  an  excess  of  passion  the  fine  bound- 
ary lines  of  beauty. 

It  is  given  to  only  a  very  few  to  recognize  at 
once  the  high  and  beautiful  in  art.  In  most  the 
sense  of  the  beautiful  awakens  only  with  a  riper 
spiritual  development.  It  is  thus  the  fruit  of  a 
higher  stage  of  culture.  To  children  and  per- 
sons wholly  uneducated  a  brightly  painted  pic- 
ture-book is  more  beautiful  than  the  Dresden 
Madonna,  that  great  masterpiece  of  painting. 
And  most  people  take  greater  pleasure  in  a  waltz 
by  Strauss  or  Lanner  than  in  a  symphony  by 
Beethoven  or  Mozart.  Beauty  depends  upon 
principles,  i.  e.,  rules  and  laws,  which  are  founded 
in  the  nature  of  the  human  reason.  The  appre- 
ciation, therefore,  of  beauty  accompanies  the 
development  in  man  of  his  reason. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  147 

Music,  above  all  the  other  arts,  finds  the  ear- 
liest and  most  universal  recognition,  and  almost 
every  one  listens  to  it  with  pleasure.  Helmholtz 
says  that  music  is  much  more  intimately  related 
to  our  sensations  than  all  the  other  arts  put 
logether.  Tones  touch  the  ear  and  are  instantly 
lelt  to  be  agreeable  or  disagreeable,  while  the 
impressions  of  painting,  poetry,  &c,  upon  our 
senses  must  be  brought  to  our  consciousness,  and 
be  judged  of  there  by  comparison.  But  it  is  not 
only  through  the  direct  effect  of  tones,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  but  more  through  the  life  (Bele- 
bung)  which  animates  it,  that  music  comes  so 
close  to  us,  and  is  so  natural  and  near  of  kin  to 
us.  That  must  needs  be  the  most  interior  of 
the  arts-  whose  office  it  is  to  express  the  various 
moods  of  the  human  soul  in  their  tenderest  and 
most  secret  fluctuations.  The  incorporeal  mate- 
rial of  tone  is  far  better  fitted  to  express  these 
different  moods  (Stimmungen)  than  it  is  possible 
for  poetry  to  do.  Peculiar,  definite  feelings  it 
cannot,  indeed,  distinctly  denote  without  the 
help  of  poetry.  But  it  is  this  very  indefinite- 
ness  that  enables  music  so  to  insinuate  itself  into 
the  soul  of  the  hearer  that  the  tones  heard  seem 
to  be  the  expression  of  his  own  feelings,  and  not 


148  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

those  of  another.  Hence  it  is  that  music,  in 
its  whole  nature,  acts  beneficently  and  sooth- 
ingly, because  its  ruling  principle  is  always  a 
striving  after  repose,  after  a  rest  in  consonances, 
just  as  this  is  the  innermost  aim  and  struggle 
of  our  own  life.  In  the  other  arts  this  is  much 
less  the  case.  Aristotle,  in  his  twenty-seventh 
and  twenty-ninth  problems,  distinguishes  the  in- 
fluences of  music  as  the  expression  of  tones  of 
feeling  (Stimmungen),  and  not  of  definite  feel- 
ings. And  Brendel,  who,  in  his  history  of 
music,  holds  to  the  order  among  the  arts  re- 
ceived by  the  Greeks,  by  which  architecture 
takes  the  lowest  place,  then  sculpture,  painting, 
music,  and,  lastly,  as  the  highest  of  the  arts, 
poetry,  remarks,  that  "  Music,  by  virtue  of  its 
power  to  express  the  most  delicate  shades  of 
sentiment,  would  certainly  take  the  highest  rank 
were  it  more  definite."  It  has  always  been 
attempted  to  extend  the  boundaries  of  music  by 
calling  in  the  assistance  of  painting  and  poetry. 
Haydn,  Mozart,  Schubert,  etc.,  have  imitated  in 
their  compositions  the  singing  of  birds,  the  rip- 
pling of  water,  storms,  &c.  And  now  our  mod- 
ern musicians  of  the  future  endeavor  to  express 
in  tones  definite  thoughts  and  feelings,  imagin- 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  149 

ing  that  here  a  new  epoch  in  art  is  to  open. 
But  these  new  compositions  always  require  ela- 
borate explanations.  Music  until  now,  at  least, 
has  not  yet  given  up  its  ethereal,  indefinite 
character.* 

*  The  friends  of  this  style  of  music  (programme  music  so 
called)  appeal  to  the  authority  of  Beethoven,  who,  it  is 
claimed,  opened  the  way  for  it  when  he  introduced  into  his 
Pastoral  Symphony  interlineations  which  should  suggest  the 
right  sentiment  to  the  hearer.  But,  although  Beethoven 
allowed  himself  to  approach  the  uttermost  limits  in  this 
direction,  he  never  overstepped  them.  It  was  only  in  his 
Pastoral  Symphony  that  he  introduced  these  interlineations, 
and  they  do  not  entirely  contradict  the  peculiar  character  of 
the  music,  as  so  many  of  our  modern  programmes  do. 

Programme 
To  Bedhoven's  Pastoral  Symphony,  December  22,  18U8. 
I.  Agreeable  sensations  upon  visiting  the  country. 
II.  Scene  at  a  brook's  side. 

III.  Merry  gathering  of  country  people! 

IV.  Thimder  and  storm. 

V.  Happy  and  grateful  emotions  after  the  storm. 
More  emotional  than  descriptive. 
Expression  rather  than  representation  of  feeling. 

Programme 

To  a  Prize  Symphony,  by  Joachim  Raff,  performed  in 

Vienna,  1863. 

1.  D  major.     Allegro. 

Portrait  of   the   German    character, — its   capability  of 
13* 


150  THE    VCICE  IN  SINGING 

It  is  essentia]  to  the  full  effect  of  a  work  of 
art  that  the  artist  should  create  it,  and  the 
hearer  or  beholder  should  enjoy  it,  without 
thinking  of  the  rules  and  laws  of  beauty.  A 
work  of  art  must  act  immediately  upon  the 
feelings ;  it  must  appear  to  be  spontaneous,  and 
must  be  felt  without  reference  to  any  aim  oj 
plan.  What  is  aesthetically  beautiful  pleases  a 
cultivated  taste  at  once  without  any  reflex  con- 
sideration. But  when,  by  the  help  of  the  under- 
standing, we  seek  to  account  for  the  harmony  and 
perfection  of  the  several  parts,  and  find  by  more 

elevation,    proneness    to    Eeflection,   Gentleness    and 
Valor,  as  contrasts  that  blend  with  and  permeate  one 
another  in   manifold  ways — overpowering  proneness 
to  meditation. 
II.  D  minor.     Allegro  molto  vivace. 

In  the  open  air,  in  the  German  grove,  with  the  sound  of 
horns,  Away  to  the  fields,  with  the  songs  of  the  people. 

III.  D  major.     Larghetto. 

Gathering  round  the  domestic  hearth,  transfigured   by 
love  and  the  Muses. 

IV.  G  minor.     Allegro-dramatico. 

Ineffectual  struggle  to  establish  the  unity  of  the  father- 
land. 
V.  D  minor.     Lament.     D  major.    Allegro  trionfale. 
Opening  of  a  new  and  elevated  era. 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  151 

searching  study  that  the  work  is  in  conformity 
to  the  laws  of  reason,  our  enjoyment  will  nat- 
urally be  enhanced.  But  this  study  must  always 
come  as  a  consequence  of  the  first  effect  upon 
the  soul,  otherwise  all  effect  is  wanting.  The 
unconscious  enjoyment  of  the  legitimate  in  art  is 
the  first  condition  of  the  influence  of  the  beauti- 
ful upon  the  soul.  The  happy,  elevated  feeling 
which  all  works  of  art  immediately  awaken  in 
us  is  thus  only  an  unconscious  recognition  of 
the  reasonable,  the  harmonious,  the  symmetrical. 
But  this  unconscious  impression  is  instantly  dis- 
turbed by  any,  the  least  imperfection,  before  we 
perceive  where  and  in  what  it  consists,  for  the 
human  mind  is  not  able  fully  and  at  once  to  ex- 
amine a  production  of  art  in  its  entirety  to  its 
minutest  parts. 

An  artist  must,  therefore,  be  esteemed  accord- 
ing as  his  works  excite  and  ravish  the  hearers 
or  beholders  without  their  knowing  why,  and 
he  stands  all  the  higher  the  simpler  and  the 
more  naturally — i.  e.,  the  more  unconsciously — 
this  takes  place. 

In  order  to  reach  such  a  height,  and  to  be 
able  to  act  upon  the  souls  of  men  with  an  elevat- 
ing and  ii\forming  power,  it  is  first  of  all  neces- 


152  TEE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

saiy  that  an  artist  should  cultivate  the  form,  or 
the  technique,  of  his  art  to  its  greatest  possible 
perfection,  and  have  such  perfect  command  of 
it,  that  the  practical  application  of  it  is  as  nat- 
ural to  him  as  to  breathe.  For  empty  and  dead 
as  all  technical  knowledge  is  unless  it  is  animated 
witJi  a  soul,  yet  no  product  of  art  aesthetically  beau- 
tiful is  possible  without  a  perfect  technique. 

But  the  culture  of  the  technique  in  the  art  of 
singing  requires  a  special  faculty  in  the  teacher, 
and,  together  with  the  finest  power  of  observa- 
tion, an  ear,  which  not  only  perceives  the  purity 
of  the  tone,  whether  high  or  low,  but  feels  also 
the  direction  of  the  aerial  column,  the  too  much 
or  too  little  of  the  breath,  the  coloring  of  the 
timbre,  &c.  An  aesthetically  artistic  educa- 
tion demands  likewise  that  the'  singer  should 
have  the  highest  general  culture.  As  soon  as 
the  technical  education  has  advanced  so  far  that 
it  no  longer  makes  any  demand  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  learner,  the  infusion  of  life  and  soul 
into  the  singing  must  be  begun.  The  teacher 
must  then  be  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  his  art 
that  he  shall  be  able  so  to  inspire  his  pupils 
that,   forgetting    themselves,    they  may   be   ab- 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  153 

sorbed  in  the  high  ideal  work  of  their  art,  and 
regard  their  well-trained  voices  simply  as  ex- 
pressing the  noblest  and  most  varied  sentiments 
(Stimmungen).  And  on  this  account  a  teacher 
should  seek  to  act  upon  the  souls  of  his  pupils, 
and  awaken  in  them  above  all  things  a  feeling  for 
the  high  and  the  noble,  that  they  may  be  able  to 
find  the  correct  mode  of  expressing  it  in  singing. 
It  is  a  very  hard  but  not  impossible  work  to 
educate  true  artists,  who,  penetrated  with  faith 
in  the  high  worth  of  their  art,  shall  fulfil  its 
aim  by  exercising  a  refreshing  and  elevating  in- 
fluence upon  their  fellow-men.  But,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  form  true  artists,  a  teacher  must 
be  devoted  without  intermission  to  his  own  cul- 
ture, scientific  and  general;  must  strive  with 
pleasure,  and  love,  and  inspiration  to  accomplish 
the  high  work  of  his  calling,  and  make  the 
severest  demands  upon  himself,  before  he  can 
expect  anything  great  of  his  pupils. 

Having  spoken  of  those  parts  of  the  technique 
of  the  art  of  singing  which  rest  upon  impreg- 
nable natural  laws,  such  as  the  registers  of  the 
voice^  the  formation  of  tones  in  regard  to  strength, 
pitch,   and    timbre,    &c,   let   us   consider   more 

closely  those  other  parts  of  the  technique  which 

G* 


154  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

rest  upon  psychological,  i.  e.,  aesthetic  principles 
(Motiven).  To  these  belong  Rhythm,  Correct  un- 
derstanding of  the  Tempo,  Composition,  Execution, 
that  is,  the  delivery  of  the  sentiment  of  the  compo- 
sition, and  the  aids  thereto. 

RHYTHM 

To  the  principles  of  beauty  belong,  above 
all  things,  order  and  regularity.  In  music  this 
order  consists  in  measures  of  time.  All  measure- 
ment by  time,  even  the  scientific,  depends  upon 
rhythmic,  regularly  returning  results,  as  in  the 
revolutions  of  the  earth,  of  the  moon,  and  in 
the  vibrations  of  the  pendulum,  &c.  Thus,  by 
the  regular  interchange  of  accented  and  unac- 
cented sounds  in  music  and  poetry,  we  obtain 
the  rhythm  of  the  work. 

But  while  in  poetry  the  structure  of  verse 
serves  only  to  reduce  to  artistic  order  the  exter- 
nal accidents  of  expression  by  language,  rhythm 
is  not  only  the  external  measure  of  time  in  music, 
but  it  belongs  to  the  innermost  nature  of  its 
power  of  expression,  giving  to  music  its  dis- 
tinctive character.  There  is,  therefore,  a  finer 
and  much  more  various  culture  of  rhythm  neces- 
sary in   music  than   in   poetry.      Here  rhythm 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  155 

determines  not  only  the  time,  how  long  a  note 
is  to  be  maintained,  and  how  many  notes  fall 
within  a  certain  space  of  time,  but  it  also  dis- 
tinguishes those  notes  which  are  to  be  sung  with 
more  or  less  emphasis. 

We  know  that  in  a  bar  of  J  time  the  first  beat 
must  be  more  accented  than  the  second;  in  a 
bar  of  ^  time  the  rhythmical  accent  falls  upon 
the  first  and  third  beats ;  in  a  bar  of  ~  and  § 
time  only  upon  the  first;  and  in  ^  upon  the 
first  and  fourth.  This  rhythmical  accentuation 
must  become  a  second  nature  to  the  learner 
before  he  can  express  any  particular  sentiment 
in  a  piece  of  music,  and  therefore  he  must 
be  early  practised  in  it.  Rhythmical  accen- 
tuation can  always  be  employed  ver^  differently 
according  to  the  character  (Stimmung)  of  a  com- 
position, and  the  most  different  effects  in  expres- 
sion are  thus  produced.  One  can,  by  a  greater 
or  less  degree  of  strength,  or  by  a  sudden  im- 
pulse of  the  breath,  change  the  accent,  as  well  as 
by  a  slight  retardation  of  the  note.  Also,  by 
transferring  the  accent  to  those  notes  naturally 
not  accented,  that  is,  in  the  J  time  to  the 
second  beat,  or  to  the  second  half  of  the  first, 
by   so-called   syncopes,   the  whole    character   of 


156  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

a  piece  is  changed.  Iu  musical  passages  in 
which  many  notes  come  upon  one  beat  and  the 
character  of  which  is  light  and  pleasing,  a  pecu- 
liar charm  is  produced  when  several  rhythmical 
accents  are  made  upon  the  same  beat,  and  like- 
wise in  slow  passages  the  swelling  of  the  tone 
upon  the  accented  note  is  very  pleasing.  Let 
the  same  phrase  in  a  song  be  sung  with  different 
rhythmical  accents,  and  we  may  easily  see  how 
such  changes  will  give  the  passage  quite  another 
character. 

The  old  Italian  singers  understood  to  a  re- 
markable degree  the  use  of  rhythm  in  the  exe- 
cution of  vocal  music.  But  the  poetical  rhythm 
of  the  words  accompanying  the  voice  gives  to 
the  singer  a  guide,  reference  to  which  shows  him 
at  least  how  and  where  he  may  employ  the  nicer 
shades  of  musical  rhythm. 

CORRECT   UNDERSTANDING   OF   THE   TEMPO 

To  give  the  pupil  the  feeling  for  the  correct 
tempo  of  a  composition  is  more  difficult  than 
to  teach  him  to  understand  rhythm.  Our  best 
musicians,  whose  merits  deserve  the  fullest  ac- 
knowledgment, often  fail  here,  making  the  tempo 
of  a  piece  of  music  either  too  slow  or  too  quick, 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  157 

and  so  weakening  its  whole  effect.  This  hap- 
pens especially  with  the  old  compositions  which 
preceded  the  introduction  of  the  metronome. 
The  old  Italian  vocal  compositions  are  in  this 
respect  treated  the  worst  by  our  musicians,  who 
belong  to  the  strictly  classical  school.  The 
character  of  these  pieces  is  prevailingly  senti- 
mental, and  the  tempi  were  not  so  quick  then 
as  now.  If  a  piece  thus  composed  in  slow 
time  is  set,  without  reference  to  its  sentiment, 
to  the  quickest  possible  tempo,  it  becomes  ordi- 
nary and  vulgar  in  character ;  the  most  beauti- 
ful adagio  may  in  this  way  be  degraded  to  a 
street-ballad.  The  songs  of  our  modern  com- 
posers have  to  be  sung  to  a  quicker  tempo  than 
that  to  which  they  are  set,  or  they  are  tedious  and 
wearisome.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with 
the  compositions  of  Schubert,  and  the  whole 
effect  of  his  beautiful  songs  is  often  ruined  by  a 
degree  more  or  less  too  rapid.  Singing  too 
slowly,  or  in  false  tempo,  is  now-a-days  a  very 
prevalent  fault.  And  yet  the  singer  has  in  the 
words  a  surer  guide  than  is  granted  to  the  in- 
strumental performer.  Therefore,  by  well  con- 
sidering these  and  getting  them  by  heart  without 
the  music,  as  if  they  were  the  outpouring  of  his 

14 


158  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

own  feelings,  he  will  be  most  likely  to  strike  the 
correct  tempo  in  singing  them.  In  this  way 
many  of  our  recent  favorite  songs  gain  a  some- 
what fresher  tempo  than  that  at  which  they  are 
usually  sung.  The  choice  of  the  time,  being 
dependent  upon  the  taste  of  the  artist,  requires 
special  attention  and  study. 

Although  the  tempo  is  usually  indicated  by 
some  designation,  as,  for  example,  allegro,  ada- 
gio, &c,  yet  the  allegro  or  adagio  may  be  given 
with  different  degrees  of  quickness,  and  the  desig- 
nations still  be  perfectly  correct.  We  have  no 
precise  designations  for  the  nicer  degrees  of 
tempo,  and  yet  a  very  slight  degree  has  an  influ- 
ence upon  the  character  of  the  piece.  The  metro- 
nome, by  which  in  instrumental  music  the  tempo 
is  defined,  is  only  occasionally  used  as  a  guide 
in  vocal  compositions,  because  the  singer  may 
be  guided  by  the  words  and  by  the  sentiment 
which  the  words  indicate. 

The  tempi  must  be  ascertained  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  composers,  and  by  reference  to  the  periods 
in  which  their  compositions  first  appeared.  It 
would  be  an  error  to  play  an  andante  by  Bach 
or  Haydn  like  one  of  Chopin's  or  Hitter's,  or 
sing  the  allegro  of  an  aria  by  Pergolese  or  Carcjfa 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  159 

as  quickly  as  the  allegro  of  one  of  Meyerbeer's 
arias.  But  whether  a  piece  of  music  be  light 
and  ornamental  in  character,  or  heavy  and 
labored,  weak  or  powerful,  quiet  or  passionate, 
depends  on  rhythm  and  tempo. 

COMPOSITION 

Classic  art  sought  as  the  only  aim  in  its  works 
to  represent  pure  beauty.  In  the  compositions 
of  the  old  masters  regard  was  had  only  to  the 
sweetness  of  melody,  and  everything  was  ex- 
cluded from  them  that  did  not  fall  agreeably 
upon  the  ear.  But  in  modern  music  what  is  even 
unfavorable  to  sensuous  pleasure  is  accepted,  and 
we  have  accustomed  ourselves  to  a  more  vigor- 
ous and  powerful  mode  of  representation,  the 
aim  being  to  excite  by  sudden  contrasts. 

In  so  far  as  music  is  to  represent  the  most 
secret  life  of  the  soul,  and  as  in  art  everything 
natural,  so  far  as  it  admits  of  being  idealized 
and  represented,  is  allowable,  this  tendency  of 
art  in  music  has  its  justification.  But  here,  as 
in  everything  in  which  the  principles  of  beauty 
are  concerned,  the  true  limit  must  not  be  over- 
stepped. The  old  masters  composed  only  in 
consonances,  and  Helmholtz  has  shown  scientifi- 


160  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

cally  that  consonances  alone  have  an  independent 
right  to  existence.  Dissonances,  according  to 
Helmholtz,  are  only  permissible  as  transition 
points  for  consonants,  having  no  right  of  their 
own  to  be.  Down  to  Beethoven  we  find  disso- 
nances correctly  employed  by  all  the  old  masters. 
And  greater  and  nobler  effects  were  attained 
than  are  possible  to  our  modern  musicians  with 
their  accumulation  of  dissonances  and  sudden 
contrasts. 

With  the  two  composers  in  whom  our  modern 
classic  epoch  reached  its  zenith,  begins  the  gra- 
dual decline  of  the  art  of  singing.  Mozart  held 
it  necessaiy  to  his  musical  education  to  study  in 
Italy  the  vocal  compositions  of  the  old  masters, 
and  to  make  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  qualities  of  the  singing  voice.  Hence  the 
vocal  compositions  of  Mozart  will  remain  beau- 
tiful and  to  be  held  up  as  models  for  all  time, 
for  they  unite  the  sweetest  and  loveliest  melody 
with  an  appreciation  of  sentiment  the  noblest 
and  most  ideal. 

The  giant  genius  of  Beethoven,  inspired  and 
artistic,  found  the  material  developed  to  perfec- 
tion by  his  predecessors,  and  with  overpowering 
strength  forced  it  to  yield  itself  to  his  service. 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  161 

His  masterworks  of  composition,  in  the  grandeur 
of  their  style,  excel  everything  that  had  been 
produced  before  him.  But  he  has  treated  the 
human  voice  as  a  subordinate  instrument. 

Because  all  that  Beethoven  produced  was  grand 
and  beautiful,  he  has  been  blindly  imitated,  and 
it  has  been  wholly  forgotten  that  music  has  in 
all  times  drawn  its  best  nourishment  from  song, 
and  only  by  means  of  song  has  it  risen  to  its 
high  estate,  and  that  instruments  can  never 
reach  what  is  possible  to  a  thoroughly  educated 
human  voice. 

A  musician,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  piano, 
never  dreams  of  writing  a  concert  piece  for  the 
violin,  because  he  knows  that  he  is  not  suffi- 
ciently acquainted  with  the  peculiarities  of  that 
instrument ;  but  every  musician  imagines  himself 
able  to  compose  for  the  human  voice,  although 
its  peculiar  qualities  are  far  more  numerous  and 
far  more  difficult  to  be  rightly  dealt  with. 

The  strictly  classical  musicians  of  the  present 
reject  all  Italian  music  as  bad.  The  objection 
made  to  it  is,  that  the  music  is  never  adapted  to 
the  words,  but  often  expresses  something  wholly 
different  and  sometimes  directly  opposite  to  their 
meaning,  and  that  it  never  gives  back  to  us  any 


162  THE  VOICE  IN  SINGING 

high,  poetic  sentiment,  but  aims  to  bribe  us  with 
ornaments  only,  and  accidents.  In  regard  to 
modern  Italian  music  this  judgment  may  be  just. 
These  superficial  compositions  are  a  product  of 
Italian  music  in  its  decline,  and  can  force  for  them- 
selves a  certain  popularity  only  by  their  pleasant 
and  easy  melodies.  Even  the  old  Italian  music 
seems  at  first  sight  to  pay  little  or  no  regard  to 
the  sense  of  the  words,  especially  when  the  time, 
according  to  the  classic  German  method,  is  set  too 
quick.  Upon  closer  study,  however,  we  soon  per- 
ceive that,  although  the  music  is  treated  as  the 
chief  thing,  the  meaning  of  the  words  is  cer- 
tainly given  when  the  music  is  rightly  performed. 
Were  it  not  so,  our  music  would  hardly  ever 
have  been  able  to  form  and  develop  itself  upon 
and  through  these  old  vocal  compositions. 

As  the  pictures  of  Titian,  Rubens,  and  other 
great  painters  of  that  time,  who  were  masters  of 
form  as  well  as  of  color,  will  always  be  con- 
sidered as  works  of  art  and  models,  so  the  com- 
positions of  the  old  Italian  singing  masters  and 
of  those  who  went  from  their  schools  are  to  be 
held  up  as  examples  for  vocal  composition.  In 
their  works,  as  in  all  the  works  of  art  of  that 
time,  form  takes  precedence  of  the  spirit,  that  is/ 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  163 

the  words  and  their  poetic  significance  are  treated 
as  secondary  matters.  But  all  the  peculiar  pro- 
perties of  the  human  voice  find  therein  due  con- 
sideration ;  everything  at  variance  with  them  is 
avoided,  and  every  interval,  every  vowel,  is  so 
introduced  that  the  voice  can  flow  out  with  the 
greatest  perfection.  These  ornamented  composi- 
tions can  be  sung  more  easily  and  with  less  effort 
than  a  simple  aria  of  a  modern  composer. 

The  fine  tact  and  the  correct  feeling  with  which 
in  those  old  vocal  compositions  what  nature  directs 
was  observed,  show  that  they  are  the  works  of 
singers  of  the  golden  age  of  the  art  of  singing, 
of  artists  who  with  an  exact  knowledge  of  the 
beauties  and  capabilities  of  the  voice  possessed, 
and  in  those  days  were  compelled  to  possess,  the 
most  thorough  culture  in  the  theory  of  music. 

In  opposition  to  this  old,  classic  Italian  style 
of  composing  song,  which  considered  and  treated 
music  for  its  own  sake  alone,  and  regarded  the 
words  only  in  so  far  as  they  aided  the  voice 
and  the  expression  of  the  music,  stands  the 
classic  style  of  Germany.  In  this  latter  the  first 
attention  is  paid  to  the  poetic  meaning  and  ex- 
pression of  the  text.  Rightly  to  apprehend  the 
6ense  of  the  words  and  to  give  it,  by  means  of 


164  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

the  music,  a  deeper,  nobler  expression — to  trans- 
figure it,  as  it  were — is,  according  to  this  style,  the 
purpose  of  the  composer,  who  commonly  has 
only  the  slightest  reference  to  the  peculiar  qual- 
ities of  the  voice  and  the  fitness  of  the  compo- 
sition to  be  sung.  In  the  classic  Italian  style  the 
form  predominates — in  the  German,  the  inspira- 
tion or  soul  of  the  composition.  In  the  Italian  the 
music  and  the  singing  capability  of  the  compo- 
sition are  attended  to  almost  exclusively.  In  the 
German,  the  main  thing  is  the  poetical  expres- 
sion of  the  signification  of  the  words.  When 
we  now  sing  the  wonderful  and  exquisite  com- 
positions of  Schubert,  Schumann,  Mendelssohn, 
etc.,  we  soon  feel  the  impossibility  of  giv- 
ing one  or  another  tone  as  beautifully  as  it 
should  be  given  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
voice,  and  as  we  are  able  to  give  it  by  itself. 
Or  it  is  hard  for  us  to  strike  this  or  that  tone 
with  perfect  purity  or  with  the  requisite  force,  &c. 
These  songs  are  not  adapted  to  the  voice  as  the 
old  Italian  arias  were,  but  composed  without 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  voice,  and  therefore 
cannot  develop  the  voice  in  its  highest  perfec- 
tion. Mendelssohn  often  lays  the  strongest  ex- 
pression in  his  soprano  songs  upon  the/#,  the 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  165 

transition  tone  from  the  falsetto  register  to  the 
head  voice.  For  the  expression  of  the  highest 
passion,  which  requires  strength,  the  head  voice 
is  not  adapted,  at  least  not  in  its  transition  tone. 
Accordingly,  it  is  usually  sought  to  sound  this 
tone  with  the  falsetto  register,  to  which  it  is  not 
natural,  and  is  therefore  hard  to  be  sung,  and 
also  becomes  sharp  and  offensive  in  the  male  voice 
especially,  where  this  note  is  formed  just  upon 
the  transition  from  the  second  chest  register  into 
the  falsetto.  Schubert,  again,  in  his  songs  com- 
monly so  places  the  words  that  the  favorable 
vowels  seldom  come  upon  the  right  tones. 
Schumann  also  very  often  uses  intervals  which 
come  upon  the  boundary  tones  of  the  regis- 
ter, and  can  hardly  be  struck  with  purity. 
Thus  there  are  very  many  hindrances  to  a  fine 
development  of  the  voice,  oftentimes  in  the  most 
beautiful  compositions  of  our  times,  hindrances, 
which  many  of  our  composers  are  more  or  less 
chargeable  with  putting  in  the  way. 

It  is  evident  from  what  has  been  said  that  it 
is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  indifference  how  the 
words  of  a  song  are  translated  into  another  lan- 
guage. Compositions  easily  sung  naturally  lose 
by  translation,  for  it  is  generally  left  entirely  to 


166  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

chance  whether  the  appropriate  vowels  fall  upon 
the  right  tones.  A  teacher  must  take  great  care, 
especially  in  beginning  instruction,  to  give  his 
pupils  compositions  adapted  to  singing.  All  the 
exercises  and  solfeggi  should  be  expressly 
arranged  for  the  purpose,  and  also  so  arranged 
that  the  pupil  shall  have  steadily  increasing  diffi- 
culties to  encounter,  in  order  that  the  vocal 
technique  may  be  fully  illustrated.  Along  with 
these  exercises  and  solfeggi,  arias  should  be 
practised,  particularly  at  the  beginning.  The 
older  Italian  compositions  are  the  best  adapted  to 
vocal  culture,  because  they  were  made  with  spe- 
cial reference  to  the  qualities  of  the  voice.  Arias 
are  preferable  to  songs,  because  they  usually  re- 
quire more  flexibility  of  voice,  and  therefore 
assist  the  technique.  In  arias  the  music  is  more 
prominent  than  in  ballads,  and  the  sentiment 
more  marked  and  consequently  more  easily  ap- 
prehended. The  same  words  are  commonly 
more  often  repeated,  and  must,  of  course,  be 
sung  differently,  and  thus  the  pupil  is  brought 
acquainted  at  once  with  the  different  externa] 
aids  to  a  fine  execution. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  167 


EXTEKNAL    AIDS   TO   A   FINE   EXECUTION 

A  teacher  must  see  to  it  at  first  with  the  ut- 
most attention  that  all  the  tones  according  to 
their  pitch  are  struck  with  purity,  and  this  can 
be  done  only  by  his  repeating  them  over  and 
over  again  to  his  pupil,  because,  as  we  have 
already  remarked,  our  pianos,  according  to  the 
present  method  of  tuning,  are  never  sufficiently 
pure  to  form  a  singing  tone.  When  the  learner 
has  once  become  familiarized  to  the  fine  sound 
of  pure  tones,  he  will  hear  and  distinguish  them, 
and  learn  to  strike  them  correctly  with  our 
pianos.  How  important  to  a  fine  timbre  of  the 
tones  the  right  direction  of  the  breath  is  and  its 
control,  as  well  as  the  best  mode  of  securing 
these  points,  we  have  already  described  at  some 
length.  The  old  Italian  masters  had  established 
distinct  rules  by  which  the  breath  was  to  be  re- 
newed. 

These  were : 

1.  Before  the  beginning  of  a  phrase. 

2.  Before  trills  and  passages  (fiorituri), 

3.  After  tied  notes :  |"(j\)  £T"T§ . 


168 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 


4.  Before    syncopes,   and    especially   accented 
notes :  :2 


5.  Between  two  notes  of  the  same  pitch  and 
the  same  value  :  F^u   _^»-y*fH,  in  slow  phrases. 


W^ 


6.  After  a  short  (staccato)  note : 
Aj 


#  *  •- 


=rf^BE 


7.  At  all  pauses  and  resting -points. 

8.  Before  a  note,  which,  by  being  accented,  was 
to  be  especially  distinguished  in  the  middle  of 
musical  passages,  usually  before  the  highest  note 
of  a  musical  phrase,  in  order  to  give  the  music  a 
light,  graceful  character : 


^£: 


3=r^s^ 


^ 


at* 


S 


In  light,  airy  pieces  of  music,  this  last  mode  of 
taking  breath  had  a  charming  effect,  but  was 
mostly  left  to  the  taste  of  the  singer.  The  earlier 
singers,  moreover,  were  very  skilful  in  finding 
those  places  where,  according  to  the  character  of 
the  composition,  an  unusual  taking  of  breath  was 
of  special  effect.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  consid- 
ered an  advantage  in  a  singer  to  take  breath  as 
rarely  as  possible,  and,  as  we  have  intimated  in  the 
introduction  of    this   book,   it    was   esteemed    a 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  169 

great  accomplishment  to  sing  long  with  one  in 
halation. 

In  the  old  Italian  music,  by  which  the  vocal 
technique  is  best  illustrated,  these  rules  must  be 
observed.  In  German  music  the  breathing  is 
governed  by  aesthetic  principles,  and  is  regulated 
by  the  words  of  the  song.  Accordingly,  breath 
can  be  taken  only  at  the  beginning  or  end  of  a 
sentence,  conformably  to  the  punctuation.  But 
if  the  sentences  are  too  long,  then  the  breath  is 
to  be  taken  at  some  fitting  place  in  the  middle  of 
the  sentence,  so  that  a  word  must  not  be  broken 
by  the  breath,  nor  the  article  or  adjective  sepa- 
rated from  the  subject. 

An  Italian  aria,  in  which  the  attention  is 
given  chiefly  to  the  music  and  its  externals,  is 
executed  far  more  easily  and  beautifully  than  a 
German  aria  or  a  German  song.  Our  German 
ballads,  full  of  deep  sentiment  and  in  which 
the  music  should  give  a  higher  and  richer  ex- 
pression to  the  poetic  significance  of  the  words, 
require  in  their  execution  such  sterling  spiritual 
culture  as  only  the  most  extraordinary  talent 
can  supply  the  place  of.  In  the  execution  of 
these  songs  it  is,  above  all  things,  necessary 
that  the  words  should  be  distinctly  heard.     It 

16  H 


170  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

easily  happens  in  singing  that  the  noise  (Ger- 
ausch)  of  the  consonants  partly  from  the  stronger 
sound  of  the  tones  is  entirely  covered,  and  so 
words  are  indistinctly  heard.  The  sound  of  the 
consonants  must,  therefore,  be  given  more  pro- 
minently in  singing  than  in  common  speech,  so 
that  they  may  be  heard  along  with  the  tones. 
It  is  a  good  practice  to  repeat  the  words,  exag- 
gerating the  articulation.  Thus,  by  persevering 
attention,  a  distinct  articulation  in  singing  may 
be  attained  without  difficulty.  Recitative  offers 
an  excellent  practice  for  this  purpose,  the  music 
here  being  subordinate  to  the  words,  according 
to  the  intervals  of  which  the  composition  is  for 
the  most  part  constructed.  Although  our  reci- 
tative is  formed  after  the  declamation  of  the 
Greeks,  yet  it  is  not  to  be  sung  like  this,  with 
pathos,  but  according  to  our  modern  taste,  as 
naturally  as  possible,  just  as  in  a  like  situation 
the  words  would  be  spoken.* 

*  Although  our  recitative  is  formed  after  the  recitative  of 
the  ancient  drama,  yet  the  latter,  according  to  all  accounts, 
appears  to  have  been  very  different  from  our  opera  recitative, 
and  to  have  had  greater  resemblance  to  the  monotonous  reci- 
tation of  the  Romish  Liturgy,  which  seems  to  be  a  relic  of 
ancient  art. 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  171 

To  the  external  aids  to  expression  belongs  the 
swelling  of  the  tones,  one  of  the  easiest,  most 
natural,  and  most  graceful  of  all  our  helps.  It 
consists  in  giving  a  tone,  whose  time  permits  it, 
different  degrees  of  strength.  In  a  contrary  way 
much  time  is  usually  spent  in  singing  the  scales, 
beginning  -piano  and  increasing  in  strength  to 
the  greatest  possible  forte,  and  then  letting  the 
voice  grow  weaker  and  weaker.  Instead  of  these 
exercises,  which  require  exertion,  the  same  thing 
can  be  attained  far  more  easily  by  swelling  the 
tones  where  it  is  required  in  the  composition. 
Tn  nitelancholy  or  mournful  compositions,  swell- 
ing upon  those  tones  which  the  rhythm  requires 
to  be  accented  is  very  beautiful.  But  when  ex- 
aggerated, or  where  a  fresh,  cheerful  character  is 
to  be  preserved  in  the  composition,  this  aid  to 
expression  easily  renders  the  effect  sentimental. 
Unhappily,  our  whole  music  is  vitiated  by  this 
sickly  sentimentalism,  the  perfect  horror  of  every 
person  of  cultivated  taste.  In  these  later  years 
the  powerful  reaction  of  German  aesthetics  has 
had  favorable  results  in  regard  to  instrumental 
music,  but  in  the  execution  of  vocal  music  this 
unhealthy  fashion  of  singing  still  always  com- 
mands great  applause.     This  sickly  sentimental 


172  THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING 

style  has  also  naturalized  in  singing  a  gross  trick 
unfortunately  very  prevalent,  the  tremolo  of  the 
notes.  When,  in  rare  cases,  the  greatest  passion 
is  to  be  expressed,  to  endeavor  to  deepen  the 
expression  by  a  trembling  of  the  notes  is  all 
very  well  and  fully  to  be  justified,  but  in  songs 
and  arias,  in  which  quiet  and  elevated  senti- 
ments are  to  be  expressed,  to  tremble  as  if  the 
whole  soul  were  in  an  uproar,  and  not  at  all 
in  a  condition  for  quiet  singing,  is  unnatural  and 
offensive. 

A  very  beautiful  aid  to  expression,  but  now 
only  seldom  heard,  is  the  transition  from  one  re- 
gister to  another  on  the  same  note.    A  note  begins 


with  tolerable  strength,  for  example,  d: 


■m 


with  the  action  belonging  to  it  of  the  chest  regis- 
ter, and  while  it  grows  weaker  it  passes  imper- 
ceptibly into  the  action  of  the  falsetto  tones. 
Or  the  reverse.  A  note  of  the  chest  register  is 
begun  with  the  action  of  the  falsetto,  and  be- 
coming stronger  changes  into  the  chest  register 
to  which  it  naturally  belongs.  Correctly  em- 
ployed, the  most  delightful  effects  may  be  pro- 
duced in  this  way,  especially  by  a  male  voice. 
Ornaments,  such  as  appoggiaturas  and  turns, 


THE    VOICE  IN  SINGING  173 

roulades,  trills,  &c,  are  to  be  used  only  with  taste 
and  care.  The  old  Italian  compositions,  which 
were  so  arranged  as  to  show  the  voice  in  its  full- 
est brilliancy,  have  their  ornaments  commonly  in 
such  phrases  as  were  to  be  first  sung  several 
times  in  a  simpler  way.  In  the  frequent  repeti- 
tion of  the  same  melody  and  words,  those  places 
were    designated    by    so-called   firniates,    thus : 


gp^= ,  where  it  was  permitted  to  the  artist  to 


introduce  embellishments  according  to  his  own 
taste.  In  German  arias  embellishments  are 
allowed  to  be  introduced  according  to  the  taste 
of  the  singer,  only,  however,  with  the  greatest 
care;  but  in  German  ballads  not  at  all.  And 
yet  we  often  hear  artists,  who  have  acquired 
a  certain  flexibility  of  voice,  introducing  their 
little  trickeries  in  the  most  inappropriate  places. 

But  none  of  these  aids  to  expression  are  to  be 
used  so  often  as  to  become  mere  mannerisms. 
Only  when  employed  in  due  measure  can  they 
have  an  aesthetically  fine  effect.  As  so  much 
depends  upon  the  taste  of  the  singer,  it  is 
necessary  that  he  should,  above  all  things, 
have  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the  sentiment 
which   is  to   find   expression   in  the  niece,  and 

15  * 


174  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

seek  to  make  it  his  own,  and  then  the  orna- 
ment is  to  be  introduced  only  where  it  accords 
with  the  sentiment,  that  is,  where  it  is  appro- 
priate. The  two  greatest  artists  of  the  present 
day,  Lind  and  Stockhausen,  whose  expression  is 
perfect,  take  great  pains  to  understand  the  com- 
position thoroughly,  and  in  this  way  to  be  fully 
imbued  with  the  sentiment. 

Without  the  animation  of  a  soul,  singing  fails 
of  all  effect  upon  the  hearer,  and  is  ordinary  and 
wearisome.  But  this  animation  must  be  with 
understanding  and  taste — i.  e.,  aesthetically  beau- 
tiful. For  the  beautiful  continues  beautiful  and 
true  only  as  long  as  it  is  in  proportion  and  not 
exaggerated — only  while  those  fine  lines  are  not 
transgressed  where  it  begins  to  be  untrue,  that 
is,  affected  and  ridiculous. 

TIME   OF   INSTRUCTION 

The  old  Italians  began  with  quite  young 
pupils,  commonly  when  they  were  in  their  ninth 
or  tenth  year.  The  great  demands  which  were 
then  made  in  regard  to  the  technical  culture  of 
the  voice  required  a  long  time  for  instruction, 
usually  five  or  six  years.  The  extraordinary 
fulness  and  power  of  tone  possessed  by  the  ear- 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  175 

lier  artists  could  be  acquired  only  by  persevering 
and  adequate  practice  of  the  vocal  organ,  taken 
while  in  the  process  of  growth.  Those  singers, 
men  and  women,  whose  voices  have  been  cele- 
brated for  their  fulness  and  strength  of  tone, 
such  as  Catalani,  Perini,  &c,  sang  in  their  fifth 
year,  under  the  careful  oversight  of  persons 
musically  cultivated.  In  childhood  the  impulse 
to  imitation  is  strongest,  the  vocal  organs  are 
more  tender  and  pliant  than  in  adults;  and 
hence,  when  care  is  taken  to  avoid  fatiguing  and 
straining  the  voice,  children  learn  much  easier 
and  better  than  grown  persons.  They  are  also 
preserved  by  early  and  correct  singing  from  the 
many  bad  habits  with  which  the  teacher  has  to 
contend  in  adults.  That  special  skill  and  care 
are  required  in  a  teacher  who  has  in  charge  the 
voices  of  children,  there  can  be  no  question. 
But  unhappily,  no  regard  is  paid  to  this  con- 
sideration in  the  system  of  teaching  singing  in 
the  schools,  universally  introduced  in  France, 
Germany,  and  Switzerland.  To  any  teacher  who 
can  sing  at  all,  or  play  on  any  instrument,  the 
tender  voices  of  children  are  entrusted,  and  he 
allows  them  to  sing  together  in  chorus,  satisfied  if 
the  tones  are  not  grossly  false  and  the  time  is  kept, 


176  TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

paying  do  regard  to  the  formation  of  the  voice, 
Now  it  is  well  known  that  even  practised  singers 
avoid  singing  much  in  chorus,  considering  it 
injurious  to  the  voice.  Although  schooled  and 
educated  voices  can  endure  a  much  greater  strain 
than  children's  voices,  yet  children  are  often, 
without  any  understanding,  required  to  sing 
loud,  in  order  "to  bring  out  the  voice."  In 
such  a  way  of  singing  it  is  simply  impossible 
that  every  separate  voice  should  be  attended 
to,  even  were  the  teacher  competent  to  attend 
to  it;  while  it  often  happens  that  at  the  most 
critical  age,  while  the  vocal  organs  are  being 
developed,  children  sing  with  all  the  strength 
they  can  command.  Boys,  however,  in  whom 
the  larynx  at  a  certain  period  undergoes  an  en- 
tire transformation,  reach  only  with  difficulty 
the  higher  soprano  or  contralto  tones,  but  are 
not  assigned  a  lower  part  until,  perceiving 
themselves  the  impossibility  of  singing  in  this 
way,  they  beg  the  teacher  for  the  change,  often 
too  late,  unhappily,  to  prevent  an  irreparable 
injury.  Moderate  singing,  without  exertion, 
nnd,  above  all  things,  within  the  natural  limits 
of  the  voice  and  its  registers,  would  even  dur- 
ing the  period  of  growth  be  as  little  hurtful  as 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  YJ1 

6peaking,  laughing,  or  any  other  of  the  exercises 
which  cannot  be  forbidden  to  the  vocal  organs. 
But  it  is  wiser  not  to  allow  boys  to  sing  at  all 
while  the  larynx  is  undergoing  its  change. 

The  plan  of  introducing  into  schools  instruc- 
tion in  singing,  so  excellent  in  itself  theoreti- 
cally, tends,  by  the  way  in  which  it  is  carried 
out  in  practice,  to  lessen  the  number  of  voices 
susceptible  of  artistic  culture,  without  any  com- 
pensation in  an  awakened  feeling  and  under- 
standing of  music.  In  the  palmy  days  of  the 
art  of  singing  there  was  no  instruction  given 
in  singing  in  the  schools,  but  there  were  instead 
numerous  schools  for  singing,  where  children 
were  trained  into  artists  by  the  most  skilful 
teachers,  and  whence  proceeded  good  singers, 
male  and  female,  in  great  numbers. 

The  numerous  vocal  music  Unions  and  Man- 
nerchore,  as  such,  contribute  as  little  as  school 
singing  to  the  elevation  and  improvement  of 
the  vocal  art,  the  sole  object  of  which  is  to  cul- 
tivate the  individual  voice  for  artistic  singing. 
Considered  as  a  means  of  moral  culture,  the  rise 
and  increasing  prevalence  of  chorus  singing 
among  all  orders  of  the  people  merit  ommen- 

H» 


178  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

dation  and  aid,  but  not  in  the  interest  of  the 
art  of  song. 

Apart  from  this  school  instruction,  now  be- 
coming so  popular,  people  commonly  venture  to 
entrust  their  sons  and  daughters,  but  not  until 
they  are  quite  grown,  to  a  singing  master  to  be 
educated.  But  then  it  is  expected  that  he  shall, 
in  the  shortest  time  possible,  often  in  the  space 
of  a  few  months,  advance  them  so  far  that 
they  shall  be  able  to  sing  with  applause  before 
company. 

Such  is  the  case  in  Germany,  and  in  a  much 
higher  degree  in  America,  while  in  the  various 
conservatories  of  Europe  there  is  now  required  a 
period  of  from  four  to  seven  years  for  education 
in  the  art  of  singing.  In  the  Conservatory  of 
Milan,  which  is  now  held  to  be  the  best  school 
for  our  art,  pupils  are  admitted  only  upon  the 
condition  that  they  will  remain  seven  years. 

Thus,  while  every  instrument,  if  anything  is 
to  be  made  out  of  it,  demands  years  of  practice, 
tc  the  human  voice  alone  is  time  denied,  simply 
because,  I  suppose,  almost  every  one  has  a  some- 
what natural  aptitude  for  singing. 

The  greatest  fault,  however,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  present  mode  of  teaching  singing,  which  is  sc 


THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  179 

superficial  that  people  have  become  accustomed  to 
overlook  the  possibility  of  changing  a  voice  and 
rendering  it  beautiful.  For  the  most  part  in- 
struction begins  where  and  with  what  it  should 
end  j  the  aim  is,  paying  only  passing  attention  to 
the  timbre  and  the  formation  of  tone  (Tonbil- 
dung),  to  teach  the  pupil  to  sing  certain  favorite 
pieces  with  the  due  execution,  and  to  see  that 
the  breath  is  taken  at  the  right  places  and  that 
the  tone  is  not  too  impure.  But  the  human 
voice  is  susceptible  of  much  higher  culture 
than  any  instrument.  And  it  requires  more 
gifts  and  far  more  study  to  become  a  true  and 
distinguished  artist  in  singing  than  are  neces- 
sary to  the  mastery  of  other  instruments.  It 
would  most  assuredly  contribute  to  the  advance- 
ment and  elevation  of  the  vocal  art,  if  gifted 
children,  as  it  often  happened  in  former  times, 
were  early  instructed  in  singing  with  the  requi- 
site care  and  skill.  Thus,  educated  for  their  art, 
and  giving  to  it  their  best  powers,  they  would 
be  able  to  satisfy  far  higher  demands  and  attain 
to  quite  another  and  higher  artistic  perfection 
than  we  are  wont  now-a-days  to  find  anywhere 
among  our  vocal  artists.  Such  children  would 
then,  at  the  age  at  which  at  present  instruction 


180  THE   VOICE  IN  SINGING 

in  singing  begins,  have  already  mastered  all 
technical  difficulties  and  be  able  to  apply  them- 
selves chiefly  to  the  aesthetic  cultivation  of  theii 
art.  With  young  girls  especially,  whose  vocal 
organs  do  not  change  so  much  as  those  of  boys, 
the  earliest  possible  beginning  of  instruction 
would  be  in  the  highest  degree  advantageous. 
It  is  owing  only  to  the  unnatural,  overstrained 
method  of  studying  the  art  of  singing  now  pre- 
valent that  a  principle  recognized  and  applied 
in  the  learning  of  all  other  arts,  and  even  in  all 
the  other  branches  of  music,  has  universal  pre- 
judice against  it. 

CONCLUSION 

An  artist  can  be  formed  only  by  his  own  in- 
telligence and  practice,  under  the  direct  guid- 
ance of  a  master.  But  here,  more  than  in  any 
other  art,  the  constant  watchfulness  of  a  teacher 
is  a  necessity.  For,  as  one  gets  only  an  imper- 
fect idea  of  his  own  personal  appearance  from  a 
mirror,  so  the  singer  and  dramatic  artist  can 
form  but  a  partial  judgment  of  his  own  per- 
formances. They  are  too  subjective,  and  cannot 
be  viewed  as  an  external  whole,  like  the  works  of 
the  painter  and  sculptor.     It  is,  moreover,  as  has 


TEE   VOICE  IN  SINGING  181 

already  been  remarked,  simply  impossible  to  ob- 
tain even  a  partial  knowledge  of  any  art  from 
books  alone,  even  if  we  were  able  to  describe 
with  precision  the  fine,  delicate  differences  of 
tones,  colors  and  forms. 

These  pages,  therefore,  make  no  claim  what- 
ever to  be  regarded  as  a  manual  of  singing. 
They  aim  only  to  communicate  and  extend  a 
knowledge  of  the  latest  discoveries  and  advances 
in  the  domain  of  vocal  art,  and  to  protest  against 
and  correct  prevailing  prejudices  and  errors  in 
regard  to  this  art,  as  well  as  to  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  thos«?  to  whose  care  the  culture  of  the 
voice  is  entrusted. 

16 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 


STKUCTUEE  OF  THE  VOCAL  OKGANS 

The  larynx  is  a  sound-giving  organ  belonging  to 
that  class  of  wind  instruments  called  reed  instruments, 
although  it  differs  in  various  respects  from  all  arti- 
ficial arrangements  of  the  kind.  The  sound  or  tone- 
generating  apparatus  of  the  larynx  consists  of  tense, 
elastic  membranes,  the  so-called  chordae  vocales,  which 
are  enclosed  in  a  sounding  case  composed  of  movable 
cartilaginous  plates,  and  may  be  stretched  by  a  certain 
apparatus  of  muscles  in  very  different  and  exactly 
measurable  degrees.  They  are  made  to  vibrate  audibly 
by  a  current  of  air  impelled  with  various  degrees  of 
force  and  at  will  by  the  lungs  in  expiration  through 
the  narrow  chink  (glottis)  formed  by  the  fine  edges 
of  the  chords.  Thus  the  lungs  correspond  to  the  bel- 
lows of  the  organ;  the  trachea,  at  the  top  of  which 
the  vocal  instrument  is  placed,  answers  to  the  conduit 
(  Windrohr),  and  the  cavity  of  the  throat  in  front  of  the 
instrument  with  its  two  avenues,  the  mouth  and  the  nos- 
trils, to  the  resonance  pipe  {Ansatzrohr). 

16*  185 


186  APPENDIX 

THE  LUNGS 

The  lungs  are  two  cellular,  sponge-like  elastic  organs, 
largely  made  up  of  little  cavities  of  conical  shape,  which, 
in  the  regular  alternations  of  two  opposite  respiratory 
movements  of  air,  are  at  one  time  expanded,  and  then 
again  compressed.  The  two  lungs  are  not  of  equal  size ; 
the  right  lung  is  one-tenth  larger  in  volume  than  the  left. 

THE  TRACHEA,  OR  WINDPIPE, 

Through  which  the  air  of  the  lungs  enters  and  passes 
out,  consists  of  from  sixteen  to  twenty-six  cartilaginous 
rings,  posteriorly  incomplete,  lying  horizontally  one 
above  the  other. 

These  rings  are  connected  by  a  membrane  covering 
them  externally  and  internally.  As  they  enter  the  cavity 
of  the  chest,  they  divide  into  two  branches,  likewise 
composed  of  rings,  one  entering  the  right,  the  other 
the  left  lung.  Before  they  join  the  lungs  they  divide 
again  into  several  smaller  branches,  which  again  sub- 
divide fork-like  in  the  lungs,  and  terminate  in  number- 
less little  grape-like  clusters  of  hollow  vesicles.  The 
diameter  of  the  trachea  in  adults  is  from  one-half  to 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  when  at  rest. 

THE  LARYNX 

The  larynx  may  be  regarded  as  the  funnel-shaped 
termination  of  the  trachea.  It  enlarges  upward  and  is 
composed  of  various  cartilages  more  or  less  mobile,  con- 
nected by  ligaments  and  moved  by  muscles.  The  exte- 
rior of  the  larynx  is  formed  by  the 


APPENDIX.  187 

I.  Thyroid  cartilage. 
II.  Cricoid  cartilage. 
The  cartilages  in  the  interior  are : 
I.  The  Arytenoid  cartilages. 
II.  Cartilages  of  Wrisberg. 

III.  Cartilages  of  Santorini. 

IV.  Cuneiform  cartilages. 

To  the  cartilages  of  the  larynx  must  be  further  added 
the  Epiglottis,  with  the  little  cartilage  at  the  centre  of 
its  inner  side. 

1.  The  thyroid  cartilage  is  the  largest  cartilage  of  the 
larynx,  and  consists  of  two  four-cornered  cartilaginous 
plates  held  together  in  front  and  diverging  behind ;  the 
anterior  borders  are  convex,  and  cpnsequently  where  the 
two  plates  meet  in  front  they  form  an  upper  and  a  lower 
notch  or  slit.  The  posterior  angles  of  this  cartilage  ex- 
tend into  the  so-called  horns  of  the  thyroid  cartilage.  At 
the  upper  horns  are  ligaments  attached,  which  form  the  con- 
nection between  the  hyoid  bone  and  the  larynx,  while  the 
lower  horns  serve  to  join  the  thyroid  to  the  cricoid  car- 
tilage. In  females  and  boys  the  angle  formed  by  the 
two  plates  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  is  obtuse.  In  the 
male  sex  at  a  certain  period  the  larynx  changes  its  shape, 
and  the  plates  of  the  thyroid  cartilage  then  form  an 
acute  angle,  which  is  visible  on  the  outside  of  the  throat, 
and  is  popularly  known  as  the  Adam's  apple.  At  this 
time  the  diameter  of  the  male  larynx  becomes  a  third 
larger  than  that  of  the  female  larynx,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  voice  is  lower,  and  its  different  registers  are 
more  enlarged  in  compass. 


188  APPENDIX 

2.  The  cricoid  cartilage  resembles  in  shape  a  seal  ring ; 
its  broader  side  is  situated  posteriorly  between  the  lower 
horns  of  the  thyroid  cartilage,  and  it  is  connected  by 
its  lower  edges  immediately  with  the  upper  edge  of  the 
first  ring  of  the  trachea.  From  its  side  at  the  back  part 
project  two  rounded  surfaces,  which  give  attachment  to 
the  arytenoid  cartilages. 

3.  The  arytenoid  cartilages  are  two  small  but  very 
mobile  bodies  in  the  form  of  three-cornered  pyramids. 
The  base  of  the  pyramid  rests  upon  the  before-men- 
tioned rounded  surface  at  the  back  of  the  upper  border 
of  the  cricoid  cartilage;  one  of  its  sides  turns  to  the 
front,  the  two  others  to  the  back  and  outwards.  The 
surfaces  between  the  anterior  and  postero-interior  cor- 
ners are  accordingly  turned  towards  one  another.  The 
surface  posteriorly  is  concave,  and  affords  space  for 
a  part  of  the  arytenoid  muscle;  the  inner  surface  is 
smooth,  and  forms,  during  quiet  breathing,  a  part  of  the 
lateral  wall  of  the  larynx;  the  anterior  surface  is 
rough  and  irregular,  and  to  it  adhere  the  vocal  chords, 
the  thyro-arytenoid  muscle,  the  lateral  and  posterior 
crico-arytenoid  muscles,  and  upon  these  the  bases  of  the 
cuneiform  cartilages.  The  arytenoid  cartilages  are  length- 
ened at  their  summits  by  two  little  pear-shaped  eleva- 
tions, the  cartilages  of  Santorini  (called  apophyses  in 
Garcia' s  observations),  which  are  connected  with  them 
by  ligamentous  fibres,  and  extend  with  them  some  dis- 
tance into  the  larynx. 

4.  The  cartilages  of  Wrisberg  are  described  by  Hyrtl 
as  slight  elevations  upon  the  front  or  anterior  edge  of 


APPENDIX  189 

the  arytenoid  cartilages,  inclining  towards  the  interior, 
and,  like  all  parts  of  the  larynx,  covered  by  the  mucous 
membrane. 

5.  The  cuneiform  cartilages  (as  Wilson  names  them) 
are  two  long,  slender  cartilaginous  laminae  which  become 
somewhat  broader  at  both  ends.  These  cartilages,  with 
their  base,  rest  in  the  middle  of  the  anterior  surface  of  the 
arytenoid  cartilages,  and  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  vocal 
chords,  by  which  they  are  enveloped.  The  action  of  these 
cartilages  renders  possible  the  production  of  the  head 
tones,  but  they  are  not  found  in  every  larynx.  The  fact 
that  they  are  oftener  found  in  the  female  larynx  than  in 
that  of  the  male,  and  that  the  male  larynx  is  mostly 
used  in  scientific  investigations,  as  it  is  larger  and  more 
easily  dissected,  may  be  the  reason  why  up  to  the  pre- 
sent time  no  mention  is  made  of  them  either  in  German 
or  French  manuals.  They  are  sometimes  referred  to  as 
cuneiform  cartilages,  or  confounded  with  the  cartilages 
of  Wrisberg,  probably  because  it  seemed  unaccountable 
that  these  important  bodies  should  so  long  have  escaped 
the  attention  of  anatomists. 

From  the  anterior  surface  of  the  arytenoid  cartilages, 
extending  towards  the  centre  of  the  inner  wall  of  the  thy- 
roid cartilage,  running  diagonally  through  the  cavity  of 
the  larynx,  are  stretched  the  two  pairs  of  chords  already 
more  than  once  mentioned — the  vocal  chords,  consisting 
of  folds  of  the  mucous  membrane  which  envelopes  the 
whole  larynx.  The  two  lower  of  these  chords,  the  vocal 
chords  strictly  so  called,  into  which  the  cuneiform  carti- 
lages project  and  through  which  the  interior  thyro-ary- 


190  APPENDIX 

tenoid  muscles  run,  have  their  points  of  attachment  at 
the  arytenoid  cartilages,  somewhat  lower  than  the  upper 
pair.  Each  of  these  parallel  pairs  of  chords  form  be- 
tween their  lips  a  slit  running  antero-posteriorly.  The 
slit  of  the  upper  pair  is  opened  in  the  shape  of  an  ellipse ; 
that  of  the  lower  pair,  the  glottis,  is  very  narrow.  As 
the  upper  chords  have  their  point  of  attachment  poste- 
riorly and  higher,  they  form  with  the  lower  chords  two 
lateral  cavities,  the  ventricles. 

The  two  pairs  of  chords,  therefore,  are  the  free  interior 
edges  of  the  membrane,  covering  the  whole  larynx  and 
extending  into  it  to  the  right  and  the  left.  Only  the 
lower  vocal  chords  serve  directly  for  the  generation  of 
tones.  More  or  less  stretched  and  presenting  resist- 
ance to  the  air  forcibly  expired  from  the  lungs  through 
the  trachea,  they  are  thus  made  to  vibrate.  The 
upper  or  false  vocal  chords  do  not  co-operate  with 
them  to  generate  tone,  but  like  all  the  remaining 
parts  of  the  mouth  and  throat  belong  to  the  reso- 
nance apparatus  of  the  voice,  to  which  also  appertains 
the  back  part  of  the  mouth,  the  pharynx,  over  the 
oesophagus,  the  throat,  or  gullet.  This  is  separated 
from  the  anterior  cavity  of  the  mouth  by  the  palate, 
which  is  a  curtain  formed  by  the  mucous  membranes 
of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth,  and  the  centre  of  which 
forms  the  pendent  uvula. 

Above  the  oesophagus,  immediately  over  the  palate,  lie 
close  together,  and  separated  only  by  a  very  thin  osseous 
partition,  the  two  posterior  nasal  orifices.  These  serve  as 
passages  for  the  air  during  inspiration  and  expiration; 


APPENDIX  191 

they  are  likewise  considered  as  belonging  to  the  reso- 
nance apparatus. 

Upon  both  sides  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth,  between 
the  two  wings  of  the  palate,  lie  the  tonsils,  two  glandu- 
lar bodies,  which  separate  the  sides  of  the  cavity  of  the 
mouth  from  the  phai-ynx.  The  anterior  cavity  of  the 
mouth,  which  is  separated  from  the  nasal  cavities  by 
the  palate,  requires  no  description,  as  every  one  can 
acquaint  himself  with  its  structure  in  his  own  person  and 
in  others.  Upon  its  formation,  as  well  as  upon  the  posi- 
tion of  its  different  parts  and  upon  the  character  of 
those  parts  of  the  larynx  and  of  the  cavity  of  the  mouth 
which  have  been  described  as  the  resonance  apparatus, 
the  difference  in  the  fulness  and  timbre  of  tones  depends. 

The  epiglottis  is  fixed  at  the  anterior  portion  of  the 
larynx,  at  the  root  of  the  tongue,  within  the  angle 
formed  by  the  two  surfaces  of  the  thyroid  cartilage.  It 
is  a  very  elastic  fibro-cartilage,  freely  moving  in  a  poste- 
rior direction.  Its  color  is  yellowish  and  its  general 
form  that  of  a  spoon;  its  upper  surface  is  covered 
with  a  multitude  of  little  mucous  glands  set  in  shal- 
low cavities.  In  the  downward  passage  of  food  the 
epiglottis  covers  the  upper  orifice  of  the  larynx  like  a 
valve,  over  which  the  food  passes  into  the  oesophagus  or 
gullet,  without  being  able  to  enter  the  larynx  and  the 
trachea.  In  the  centre  of  its  interior  side  there  is  a 
little  rounded  cartilage,  movable  in  every  direction, 
which  has  as  yet  no  name.  Czermak  mentions  it  first 
in  his  observations  with  the  laryngoscope.  In  the  male 
larynx,  after  the  voice  has  altered,  the  cartilages  become 


192  APPENDIX 

more  or  less  ossified  and  gradually  harden  with  increas- 
ing age.  The  cartilages  of  the  female  larynx,  with  rare 
exceptions,  usually  continue  with  little  or  no  change. 
The  muscles,  by  which  the  movements  of  the  larynx 
are  effected,  are : 

I.  The  posterior  crico-arytenoid. 
II.  The  lateral  crico-arytenoid. 

III.  The  crico-arytenoid. 

IV.  The  thyro-arytenoid. 
V.  The  arytenoid. 

VI.  The  internal  thyro-arytenoid. 

In  late  works  upon  laryngoscopy  the  different  mus- 
cles of  the  larynx  are  variously  designated  and  divided. 
Bataille  terms  the  first  three  of  the  above-named  mus- 
cles the  exterior  muscles  of  the  larynx ;  the  three  others 
he  comprehends  under  the  name  of  thyro-arytenoid 
or  vocal  muscle,  which  divides  into  three  slips  in  the 
interior  of  the  larynx.  This,  however,  as  well  as  the 
description  of  the  character  and  action  of  the  different 
muscles,  belongs  to  the  department  of  science.  What  I 
have  already  stated  seems  to  me  to  be  sufficient  for  an 
understanding  of  the  action  of  these  organs  in  the  pro- 
duction of  sound  in  the  different  registers.  The  reader 
is  referred  to  any  good  manual  of  anatomy  for  a  full  de- 
scription of  the  muscles,  ligaments,  nerves,  vessels  and 
membranes. 


THE    END. 


&&*■ 


m 


?   r( 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 

Thls  oooU  *  due  on  -^-^S^* 

the  Librarian  in  charge. 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  DUE 


JUL2  9  ii3^' 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  DUE 


C28  (747)  MIOO 


^ 


£X, 


V*> 


oo 


